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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3126-0.txt b/3126-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b6dee7 --- /dev/null +++ b/3126-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3492 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: On Horseback + +Author: Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: August 20, 2016 [EBook #3126] +Last Updated: February 24, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON HORSEBACK *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +ON HORSEBACK + +By Charles Dudley Warner + + + + +I + +“The way to mount a horse”--said the Professor. + +“If you have no ladder--put in the Friend of Humanity.” + +The Professor had ridden through the war for the Union on the right +side, enjoying a much better view of it than if he had walked, and knew +as much about a horse as a person ought to know for the sake of his +character. The man who can recite the tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims, +on horseback, giving the contemporary pronunciation, never missing an +accent by reason of the trot, and at the same time witch North Carolina +and a strip of East Tennessee with his noble horsemanship, is a kind of +Literary Centaur of whose double instruction any Friend of Humanity may +be glad to avail himself. + +“The way to mount a horse is to grasp the mane with the left hand +holding the bridle-rein, put your left foot in the stirrup, with the +right hand on the back of the saddle, and---” + +Just then the horse stepped quickly around on his hind feet, and looked +the Professor in the face. The Superintendents of Affairs, who occupy +the flagging in front of the hotel, seated in cane-bottomed chairs +tilted back, smiled. These useful persons appear to have a life-lease +of this portion of the city pavement, and pretty effectually block it up +nearly all day and evening. When a lady wishes to make her way through +the blockade, it is the habit of these observers of life to rise and +make room, touching their hats, while she picks her way through, and +goes down the street with a pretty consciousness of the flutter she +has caused. The war has not changed the Southern habit of sitting +out-of-doors, but has added a new element of street picturesqueness in +groups of colored people lounging about the corners. There appears to be +more leisure than ever. + +The scene of this little lesson in horsemanship was the old town of +Abingdon, in southwest Virginia, on the Virginia and East Tennessee +railway; a town of ancient respectability, which gave birth to the +Johnstons and Floyds and other notable people; a town, that still +preserves the flavor of excellent tobacco and, something of the +easy-going habits of the days of slavery, and is a sort of educational +center, where the young ladies of the region add the final graces of +intellectual life in moral philosophy and the use of the globes to their +natural gifts. The mansion of the late and left Floyd is now a seminary, +and not far from it is the Stonewall Jackson Institute, in the midst +of a grove of splendid oaks, whose stately boles and wide-spreading +branches give a dignity to educational life. The distinction of the +region is its superb oak-trees. As it was vacation in these institutions +of learning, the travelers did not see any of the vines that +traditionally cling to the oak. + +The Professor and the Friend of Humanity were about starting on a +journey, across country southward, through regions about which the +people of Abingdon could give little useful information. If the +travelers had known the capacities and resources of the country, they +would not have started without a supply train, or the establishment +of bases of provisions in advance. But, as the Professor remarked, +knowledge is something that one acquires when he has no use for it. The +horses were saddled; the riders were equipped with flannel shirts and +leather leggings; the saddle-bags were stuffed with clean linen, and +novels, and sonnets of Shakespeare, and other baggage, it would have +been well if they had been stuffed with hard-tack, for in real life meat +is more than raiment. + +The hotel, in front of which there is cultivated so much of what the +Germans call sitzfleisch, is a fair type of the majority of Southern +hotels, and differs from the same class in the North in being left a +little more to run itself. The only information we obtained about it was +from its porter at the station, who replied to the question, “Is it +the best?” “We warrant you perfect satisfaction in every respect.” + This seems to be only a formula of expression, for we found that +the statement was highly colored. It was left to our imagination to +conjecture how the big chambers of the old house, with their gaping +fireplaces, might have looked when furnished and filled with gay +company, and we got what satisfaction we could out of a bygone bustle +and mint-julep hilarity. In our struggles with the porter to obtain the +little items of soap, water, and towels, we were convinced that we had +arrived too late, and that for perfect satisfaction we should have been +here before the war. It was not always as now. In colonial days the +accommodations and prices at inns were regulated by law. In the old +records in the court-house we read that if we had been here in 1777, we +could have had a gallon of good rum for sixteen shillings; a quart bowl +of rum toddy made with loaf sugar for two shillings, or with brown sugar +for one shilling and sixpence. In 1779 prices had risen. Good rum sold +for four pounds a gallon. It was ordered that a warm dinner should cost +twelve shillings, a cold dinner nine shillings, and a good breakfast +twelve shillings. But the item that pleased us most, and made us regret +our late advent, was that for two shillings we could have had a “good +lodging, with clean sheets.” The colonists were fastidious people. + +Abingdon, prettily situated on rolling hills, and a couple of thousand +feet above the sea, with views of mountain peaks to the south, is a +cheerful and not too exciting place for a brief sojourn, and hospitable +and helpful to the stranger. We had dined--so much, at least, the public +would expect of us--with a descendant of Pocahontas; we had assisted on +Sunday morning at the dedication of a new brick Methodist church, the +finest edifice in the region--a dedication that took a long time, since +the bishop would not proceed with it until money enough was raised in +open meeting to pay the balance due on it: a religious act, though it +did give a business aspect to the place at the time; and we had been the +light spots in the evening service at the most aristocratic church of +color. The irresponsibility of this amiable race was exhibited in the +tardiness with which they assembled: at the appointed time nobody was +there except the sexton; it was three quarters of an hour before the +congregation began to saunter in, and the sermon was nearly over before +the pews were at all filled. Perhaps the sermon was not new, but it was +fervid, and at times the able preacher roared so that articulate sounds +were lost in the general effect. It was precisely these passages of +cataracts of sound and hard breathing which excited the liveliest +responses,--“Yes, Lord,” and “Glory to God.” Most of these responses +came from the “Amen corner.” The sermon contained the usual vivid +description of the last judgment--ah, and I fancied that the +congregation did not get the ordinary satisfaction out of it. Fashion +had entered the fold, and the singing was mostly executed by a choir in +the dusky gallery, who thinly and harshly warbled the emotional hymns. +It occupied the minister a long time to give out the notices of the +week, and there was not an evening or afternoon that had not its +meetings, its literary or social gathering, its picnic or fair for the +benefit of the church, its Dorcas society, or some occasion of religious +sociability. The raising of funds appeared to be the burden on the +preacher's mind. Two collections were taken up. At the first, the boxes +appeared to get no supply except from the two white trash present. But +the second was more successful. After the sermon was over, an elder +took his place at a table within the rails, and the real business of the +evening began. Somebody in the Amen corner struck up a tune that had +no end, but a mighty power of setting the congregation in motion. The +leader had a voice like the pleasant droning of a bag-pipe, and the +faculty of emitting a continuous note like that instrument, without +stopping to breathe. It went on and on like a Bach fugue, winding and +whining its way, turning the corners of the lines of the catch without a +break. The effect was soon visible in the emotional crowd: feet began +to move in a regular cadence and voices to join in, with spurts of +ejaculation; and soon, with an air of martyrdom, the members began +to leave their seats and pass before the table and deposit their +contributions. It was a cent contribution, and we found it very +difficult, under the contagious influence of the hum from the Amen +corner, not to rise and go forward and deposit a cent. If anything could +extract the pennies from a reluctant worldling, it would be the buzzing +of this tune. It went on and on, until the house appeared to be drained +dry of its cash; and we inferred by the stopping of the melody that +the preacher's salary was secure for the time being. On inquiring, +we ascertained that the pecuniary flood that evening had risen to the +height of a dollar and sixty cents. + +All was ready for the start. It should have been early in the morning, +but it was not; for Virginia is not only one of the blessed regions +where one can get a late breakfast, but where it is almost impossible to +get an early one. At ten A. M. the two horsemen rode away out of sight +of the Abingdon spectators, down the eastern turnpike. The day was warm, +but the air was full of vitality and the spirit of adventure. It was +the 22d of July. The horses were not ambitious, but went on at an easy +fox-trot that permits observation and encourages conversation. It +had been stipulated that the horses should be good walkers, the one +essential thing in a horseback journey. Few horses, even in a country +where riding is general, are trained to walk fast. We hear much of +horses that can walk five miles an hour, but they are as rare as white +elephants. Our horses were only fair walkers. We realized how necessary +this accomplishment is, for between the Tennessee line and Asheville, +North Carolina, there is scarcely a mile of trotting-ground. + +We soon turned southward and descended into the Holston River Valley. +Beyond lay the Tennessee hills and conspicuous White-Top Mountain (5530 +feet), which has a good deal of local celebrity (standing where the +States of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina corner), and had been +pointed out to us at Abingdon. We had been urged, personally and +by letter, to ascend this mountain, without fail. People recommend +mountains to their friends as they do patent medicines. As we leisurely +jogged along we discussed this, and endeavored to arrive at some rule of +conduct for the journey. The Professor expressed at once a feeling about +mountain-climbing that amounted to hostility,--he would go nowhere that +he could not ride. Climbing was the most unsatisfactory use to which a +mountain could be put. As to White-Top, it was a small mountain, and +not worth ascending. The Friend of Humanity, who believes in +mountain-climbing as a theory, and for other people, and knows the value +of being able to say, without detection, that he has ascended any high +mountain about which he is questioned,--since this question is the first +one asked about an exploration in a new country,--saw that he should +have to use a good deal of diplomacy to get the Professor over any +considerable elevation on the trip. And he had to confess also that a +view from a mountain is never so satisfactory as a view of a mountain, +from a moderate height. The Professor, however, did not argue the matter +on any such reasonable ground, but took his stand on his right as a +man not to ascend a mountain. With this appeal to first principles,--a +position that could not be confuted on account of its vagueness +(although it might probably be demonstrated that in society man has no +such right), there was no way of agreement except by a compromise. It +was accordingly agreed that no mountain under six thousand feet is worth +ascending; that disposed of White-Top. It was further agreed that any +mountain that is over six thousand feet high is too high to ascend on +foot. + +With this amicable adjustment we forded the Holston, crossing it twice +within a few miles. This upper branch of the Tennessee is a noble +stream, broad, with a rocky bed and a swift current. Fording it is +ticklish business except at comparatively low water, and as it +is subject to sudden rises, there must be times when it seriously +interrupts travel. This whole region, full of swift streams, is without +a bridge, and, as a consequence, getting over rivers and brooks and +the dangers of ferries occupy a prominent place in the thoughts of +the inhabitants. The life necessarily had the “frontier” quality all +through, for there can be little solid advance in civilization in the +uncertainties of a bridgeless condition. An open, pleasant valley, the +Holston, but cultivation is more and more negligent and houses are few +and poorer as we advance. + +We had left behind the hotels of “perfect satisfaction,” and expected +to live on the country, trusting to the infrequent but remunerated +hospitality of the widely scattered inhabitants. We were to dine at +Ramsey's. Ramsey's had been recommended to us as a royal place of +entertainment the best in all that region; and as the sun grew hot in +the sandy valley, and the weariness of noon fell upon us, we magnified +Ramsey's in our imagination,--the nobility of its situation, its +cuisine, its inviting restfulness,--and half decided to pass the night +there in the true abandon of plantation life. Long before we reached +it, the Holston River which we followed had become the Laurel, a most +lovely, rocky, winding stream, which we forded continually, for the +valley became too narrow much of the way to accommodate a road and +a river. Eagerly as we were looking out for it, we passed the great +Ramsey's without knowing it, for it was the first of a little settlement +of two houses and a saw-mill and barn. It was a neat log house of two +lower rooms and a summer kitchen, quite the best of the class that we +saw, and the pleasant mistress of it made us welcome. Across the road +and close, to the Laurel was the spring-house, the invariable adjunct +to every well-to-do house in the region, and on the stony margin of +the stream was set up the big caldron for the family washing; and +here, paddling in the shallow stream, while dinner was preparing, we +established an intimacy with the children and exchanged philosophical +observations on life with the old negress who was dabbling the clothes. +What impressed this woman was the inequality in life. She jumped to the +unwarranted conclusion that the Professor and the Friend were very rich, +and spoke with asperity of the difficulty she experienced in getting +shoes and tobacco. It was useless to point out to her that her alfresco +life was singularly blessed and free from care, and the happy lot of +any one who could loiter all day by this laughing stream, undisturbed by +debt or ambition. Everybody about the place was barefooted, except the +mistress, including the comely daughter of eighteen, who served our +dinner in the kitchen. The dinner was abundant, and though it seemed +to us incongruous at the time, we were not twelve hours older when we +looked back upon it with longing. On the table were hot biscuit, ham, +pork, and green beans, apple-sauce, blackberry preserves, cucumbers, +coffee, plenty of milk, honey, and apple and blackberry pie. Here we had +our first experience, and I may say new sensation, of “honey on pie.” It +has a cloying sound as it is written, but the handmaiden recommended it +with enthusiasm, and we evidently fell in her esteem, as persons from +an uncultivated society, when we declared our inexperience of “honey on +pie.” “Where be you from?” It turned out to be very good, and we have +tried to introduce it in families since our return, with indifferent +success. There did not seem to be in this family much curiosity about +the world at large, nor much stir of social life. The gayety of madame +appeared to consist in an occasional visit to paw and maw and grandmaw, +up the river a few miles, where she was raised. + +Refreshed by the honey and fodder at Ramsey's, the pilgrims went gayly +along the musical Laurel, in the slanting rays of the afternoon sun, +which played upon the rapids and illumined all the woody way. Inspired +by the misapprehension of the colored philosopher and the dainties of +the dinner, the Professor soliloquized: + + “So am I as the rich, whose blessed key + Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, + The which he will not every hour survey, + For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. + Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare, + Since seldom coming, in the long year set, + Like stones of wealth they thinly placed are, + Or captain jewels in the carcanet.” + +Five miles beyond Ramsey's the Tennessee line was crossed. The Laurel +became more rocky, swift, full of rapids, and the valley narrowed down +to the riverway, with standing room, however, for stately trees along +the banks. The oaks, both black and white, were, as they had been +all day, gigantic in size and splendid in foliage. There is a certain +dignity in riding in such stately company, and the travelers clattered +along over the stony road under the impression of possible high +adventure in a new world of such freshness. Nor was beauty wanting. The +rhododendrons had, perhaps, a week ago reached their climax, and now +began to strew the water and the ground with their brilliant petals, +dashing all the way with color; but they were still matchlessly +beautiful. Great banks of pink and white covered the steep hillsides; +the bending stems, ten to twenty feet high, hung their rich clusters +over the river; avenues of glory opened away in the glade of the stream; +and at every turn of the winding way vistas glowing with the hues +of romance wrenched exclamations of delight and wonder from the +Shakespearean sonneteer and his humble Friend. In the deep recesses of +the forest suddenly flamed to the view, like the splashes of splendor +on the somber canvas of an old Venetian, these wonders of color,--the +glowing summer-heart of the woods. + +It was difficult to say, meantime, whether the road was laid out in the +river, or the river in the road. In the few miles to Egger's (this was +the destination of our great expectations for the night) the stream was +crossed twenty-seven times,--or perhaps it would be more proper to say +that the road was crossed twenty-seven times. Where the road did not +run in the river, its bed was washed out and as stony as the bed of the +stream. This is a general and accurate description of all the roads +in this region, which wind along and in the streams, through narrow +valleys, shut in by low and steep hills. The country is full of springs +and streams, and between Abingdon and Egger's is only one (small) +bridge. In a region with scarcely any level land or intervale, farmers +are at a disadvantage. All along the road we saw nothing but mean +shanties, generally of logs, with now and then a decent one-story frame, +and the people looked miserably poor. + +As we picked our way along up the Laurel, obliged for the most part to +ride single-file, or as the Professor expressed it, + + “Let me confess that we two must be twain, + Although our undivided loves are one,” + +we gathered information about Egger's from the infrequent hovels on the +road, which inflamed our imaginations. Egger was the thriving man of +the region, and lived in style in a big brick house. We began to feel +a doubt that Egger would take us in, and so much did his brick +magnificence impress us that we regretted we had not brought apparel fit +for the society we were about to enter. + +It was half-past six, and we were tired and hungry, when the domain +of Egger towered in sight,--a gaunt, two-story structure of raw brick, +unfinished, standing in a narrow intervale. We rode up to the gate, and +asked a man who sat in the front-door porch if this was Egger's, and if +we could be accommodated for the night. The man, without moving, allowed +that it was Egger's, and that we could probably stay there. This person, +however, exhibited so much indifference to our company, he was such a +hairy, unkempt man, and carried on face, hands, and clothes so much more +of the soil of the region than a prudent proprietor would divert from +raising corn, that we set him aside as a poor relation, and asked +for Mr. Egger. But the man, still without the least hospitable stir, +admitted that that was the name he went by, and at length advised us to +“lite” and hitch our horses, and sit on the porch with him and enjoy the +cool of the evening. The horses would be put up by and by, and in fact +things generally would come round some time. This turned out to be the +easy way of the country. Mr. Egger was far from being inhospitable, but +was in no hurry, and never had been in a hurry. He was not exactly a +gentleman of the old school. He was better than that. He dated from +the time when there were no schools at all, and he lived in that placid +world which is without information and ideas. Mr. Egger showed his +superiority by a total lack of curiosity about any other world. + +This brick house, magnificent by comparison with other dwellings in this +country, seemed to us, on nearer acquaintance, only a thin, crude shell +of a house, half unfinished, with bare rooms, the plastering already +discolored. In point of furnishing it had not yet reached the “God bless +our Home” stage in crewel. In the narrow meadow, a strip of vivid green +south of the house, ran a little stream, fed by a copious spring, and +over it was built the inevitable spring-house. A post, driven into the +bank by the stream, supported a tin wash-basin, and here we performed +our ablutions. The traveler gets to like this freedom and primitive +luxury. + +The farm of Egger produces corn, wheat, grass, and sheep; it is a good +enough farm, but most of it lies at an angle of thirty-five to forty +degrees. The ridge back of the house, planted in corn, was as steep as +the roof of his dwelling. It seemed incredible that it ever could have +been plowed, but the proprietor assured us that it was plowed with +mules, and I judged that the harvesting must be done by squirrels. The +soil is good enough, if it would stay in place, but all the hillsides +are seamed with gullies. The discolored state of the streams was +accounted for as soon as we saw this cultivated land. No sooner is the +land cleared of trees and broken up than it begins to wash. We saw more +of this later, especially in North Carolina, where we encountered no +stream of water that was not muddy, and saw no cultivated ground that +was not washed. The process of denudation is going on rapidly wherever +the original forests are girdled (a common way of preparing for crops), +or cut away. + +As the time passed and there was no sign of supper, the question became +a burning one, and we went to explore the kitchen. No sign of it there. +No fire in the stove, nothing cooked in the house, of course. Mrs. Egger +and her comely young barefooted daughter had still the milking to attend +to, and supper must wait for the other chores. It seemed easier to be +Mr. Egger, in this state of existence, and sit on the front porch and +meditate on the price of mules and the prospect of a crop, than to be +Mrs. Egger, whose work was not limited from sun to sun; who had, in +fact, a day's work to do after the men-folks had knocked off; whose +chances of neighborhood gossip were scanty, whose amusements were +confined to a religious meeting once a fortnight. Good, honest people +these, not unduly puffed up by the brick house, grubbing away year in +and year out. Yes, the young girl said, there was a neighborhood party, +now and then, in the winter. What a price to pay for mere life! + +Long before supper was ready, nearly nine o'clock, we had almost lost +interest in it. Meantime two other guests had arrived, a couple of +drovers from North Carolina, who brought into the circle--by this time +a wood-fire had been kindled in the sitting-room, which contained a bed, +an almanac, and some old copies of a newspaper--a rich flavor of cattle, +and talk of the price of steers. As to politics, although a presidential +campaign was raging, there was scarcely an echo of it here. This was +Johnson County, Tennessee, a strong Republican county but dog-gone it, +says Mr. Egger, it's no use to vote; our votes are overborne by the rest +of the State. Yes, they'd got a Republican member of Congress,--he'd +heard his name, but he'd forgotten it. The drover said he'd heard it +also, but he didn't take much interest in such things, though he wasn't +any Republican. Parties is pretty much all for office, both agreed. Even +the Professor, who was traveling in the interest of Reform, couldn't +wake up a discussion out of such a state of mind. + +Alas! the supper, served in a room dimly lighted with a smoky lamp, on +a long table covered with oilcloth, was not of the sort to arouse the +delayed and now gone appetite of a Reformer, and yet it did not +lack variety: cornpone (Indian meal stirred up with water and heated +through), hot biscuit, slack-baked and livid, fried salt-pork swimming +in grease, apple-butter, pickled beets, onions and cucumbers raw, coffee +(so-called), buttermilk, and sweet milk when specially asked for (the +correct taste, however, is for buttermilk), and pie. This was not the +pie of commerce, but the pie of the country,--two thick slabs of +dough, with a squeezing of apple between. The profusion of this supper +staggered the novices, but the drovers attacked it as if such cooking +were a common occurrence and did justice to the weary labors of Mrs. +Egger. + +Egger is well prepared to entertain strangers, having several rooms and +several beds in each room. Upon consultation with the drovers, they said +they'd just as soon occupy an apartment by themselves, and we gave up +their society for the night. The beds in our chamber had each one sheet, +and the room otherwise gave evidence of the modern spirit; for in one +corner stood the fashionable aesthetic decoration of our Queen Anne +drawing-rooms,--the spinning-wheel. Soothed by this concession to taste, +we crowded in between the straw and the home-made blanket and sheet, and +soon ceased to hear the barking of dogs and the horned encounters of the +drovers' herd. + +We parted with Mr. Egger after breakfast (which was a close copy of +the supper) with more respect than regret. His total charge for +the entertainment of two men and two horses--supper, lodging, and +breakfast--was high or low, as the traveler chose to estimate it. It was +$1.20: that is, thirty cents for each individual, or ten cents for each +meal and lodging. + +Our road was a sort of by-way up Gentry Creek and over the Cut Laurel +Gap to Worth's, at Creston Post Office, in North Carolina,--the next +available halting place, said to be fifteen miles distant, and turning +out to be twenty-two, and a rough road. There is a little settlement +about Egger's, and the first half mile of our way we had the company of +the schoolmistress, a modest, pleasant-spoken girl. Neither she nor +any other people we encountered had any dialect or local peculiarity of +speech. Indeed, those we encountered that morning had nothing in manner +or accent to distinguish them. The novelists had led us to expect +something different; and the modest and pretty young lady with frank and +open blue eyes, who wore gloves and used the common English speech, had +never figured in the fiction of the region. Cherished illusions vanish +often on near approach. The day gave no peculiarity of speech to note, +except the occasional use of “hit” for “it.” + +The road over Cut Laurel Gap was very steep and stony, the thermometer +mounted up to 80 deg., and, notwithstanding the beauty of the way, the +ride became tedious before we reached the summit. On the summit is the +dwelling and distillery of a colonel famous in these parts. We stopped +at the house for a glass of milk; the colonel was absent, and while the +woman in charge went after it, we sat on the veranda and conversed with +a young lady, tall, gent, well favored, and communicative, who leaned in +the doorway. + +“Yes, this house stands on the line. Where you sit, you are in +Tennessee; I'm in North Carolina.” + +“Do you live here?” + +“Law, no; I'm just staying a little while at the colonel's. I live over +the mountain here, three miles from Taylorsville. I thought I'd be where +I could step into North Carolina easy.” + +“How's that?” + +“Well, they wanted me to go before the grand jury and testify about +some pistol-shooting down by our house, some friends of mine got into +a little difficulty,--and I did n't want to. I never has no difficulty +with nobody, never says nothing about nobody, has nothing against +nobody, and I reckon nobody has nothing against me.” + +“Did you come alone?” + +“Why, of course. I come across the mountain by a path through the woods. +That's nothing.” + +A discreet, pleasant, pretty girl. This surely must be the Esmeralda who +lives in these mountains, and adorns low life by her virgin purity +and sentiment. As she talked on, she turned from time to time to the +fireplace behind her, and discharged a dark fluid from her pretty lips, +with accuracy of aim, and with a nonchalance that was not assumed, but +belongs to our free-born American girls. I cannot tell why this habit of +hers (which is no worse than the sister habit of “dipping”) should take +her out of the romantic setting that her face and figure had placed her +in; but somehow we felt inclined to ride on farther for our heroine. + +“And yet,” said the Professor, as we left the site of the colonel's +thriving distillery, and by a winding, picturesque road through a rough +farming country descended into the valley,--“and yet, why fling aside +so readily a character and situation so full of romance, on account of +a habit of this mountain Helen, which one of our best poets has almost +made poetical, in the case of the pioneer taking his westward way, with +ox-goad pointing to the sky: + + “'He's leaving on the pictured rock + His fresh tobacco stain.' + +“To my mind the incident has Homeric elements. The Greeks would have +looked at it in a large, legendary way. Here is Helen, strong and lithe +of limb, ox-eyed, courageous, but woman-hearted and love-inspiring, +contended for by all the braves and daring moonshiners of Cut Laurel +Gap, pursued by the gallants of two States, the prize of a border +warfare of bowie knives and revolvers. This Helen, magnanimous as +attractive, is the witness of a pistol difficulty on her behalf, and +when wanted by the areopagus, that she may neither implicate a lover +nor punish an enemy (having nothing, this noble type of her sex against +nobody), skips away to Mount Ida, and there, under the aegis of the flag +of her country, in a Licensed Distillery, stands with one slender foot +in Tennessee and the other in North Carolina...” + +“Like the figure of the Republic itself, superior to state sovereignty,” + interposed the Friend. + +“I beg your pardon,” said the Professor, urging up Laura Matilda (for +so he called the nervous mare, who fretted herself into a fever in the +stony path), “I was quite able to get the woman out of that position +without the aid of a metaphor. It is a large and Greek idea, that of +standing in two mighty States, superior to the law, looking east and +looking west, ready to transfer her agile body to either State on the +approach of messengers of the court; and I'll be hanged if I didn't +think that her nonchalant rumination of the weed, combined with her +lofty moral attitude, added something to the picture.” + +The Friend said that he was quite willing to join in the extremest +defense of the privileges of beauty,--that he even held in abeyance +judgment on the practice of dipping; but when it came to chewing, gum +was as far as he could go as an allowance for the fair sex. + + “When I consider everything that grows + Holds in perfection but a little moment...” + +The rest of the stanza was lost, for the Professor was splashing through +the stream. No sooner had we descended than the fording of streams +began again. The Friend had been obliged to stipulate that the Professor +should go ahead at these crossings, to keep the impetuous nag of the +latter from throwing half the contents of the stream upon his slower and +uncomplaining companion. + +What a lovely country, but for the heat of noon and the long +wearisomeness of the way!--not that the distance was great, but miles +and miles more than expected. How charming the open glades of the +river, how refreshing the great forests of oak and chestnut, and what a +panorama of beauty the banks of rhododendrons, now intermingled with the +lighter pink and white of the laurel! In this region the rhododendron is +called laurel and the laurel (the sheep-laurel of New England) is called +ivy. + +At Worth's, well on in the afternoon, we emerged into a wide, open +farming intervale, a pleasant place of meadows and streams and decent +dwellings. Worth's is the trading center of the region, has a post +office and a saw-mill and a big country store; and the dwelling of the +proprietor is not unlike a roomy New England country house. Worth's +has been immemorially a stopping-place in a region where places of +accommodation are few. The proprietor, now an elderly man, whose +reminiscences are long ante bellum, has seen the world grow up about +him, he the honored, just center of it, and a family come up into the +modern notions of life, with a boarding-school education and glimpses of +city life and foreign travel. I fancy that nothing but tradition and +a remaining Southern hospitality could induce this private family to +suffer the incursions of this wayfaring man. Our travelers are not apt +to be surprised at anything in American life, but they did not expect to +find a house in this region with two pianos and a bevy of young ladies, +whose clothes were certainly not made on Cut Laurel Gap, and to read +in the books scattered about the house the evidences of the finishing +schools with which our country is blessed, nor to find here pupils +of the Stonewall Jackson Institute at Abingdon. With a flush of local +pride, the Professor took up, in the roomy, pleasant chamber set apart +for the guests, a copy of Porter's “Elements of Moral Science.” + +“Where you see the 'Elements of Moral Science,'” the Friend generalized, +“there'll be plenty of water and towels;” and the sign did not fail. The +friends intended to read this book in the cool of the day; but as they +sat on the long veranda, the voice of a maiden reading the latest novel +to a sewing group behind the blinds in the drawing-room; and the antics +of a mule and a boy in front of the store opposite; and the arrival of +a spruce young man, who had just ridden over from somewhere, a matter +of ten miles' gallop, to get a medicinal potion for his sick mother, and +lingered chatting with the young ladies until we began to fear that his +mother would recover before his return; the coming and going of lean +women in shackly wagons to trade at the store; the coming home of the +cows, splashing through the stream, hooking right and left, and lowing +for the hand of the milker,--all these interruptions, together with the +generally drowsy quiet of the approach of evening, interfered with the +study of the Elements. And when the travelers, after a refreshing rest, +went on their way next morning, considering the Elements and the pianos +and the refinement, to say nothing of the cuisine, which is not treated +of in the text-book referred to, they were content with a bill double +that of brother Egger, in his brick magnificence. + +The simple truth is, that the traveler in this region must be content +to feed on natural beauties. And it is an unfortunate truth in natural +history that the appetite for this sort of diet fails after a time, +if the inner man is not supplied with other sort of food. There is no +landscape in the world that is agreeable after two days of rusty-bacon +and slack biscuit. + +“How lovely this would be,” exclaimed the Professor, if it had a +background of beefsteak and coffee! + +We were riding along the west fork of the Laurel, distinguished locally +as Three Top Creek,--or, rather, we were riding in it, crossing it +thirty-one times within six miles; a charming wood (and water) road, +under the shade of fine trees with the rhododendron illuminating the +way, gleaming in the forest and reflected in the stream, all the ten +miles to Elk Cross Roads, our next destination. We had heard a great +deal about Elk Cross Roads; it was on the map, it was down in the +itinerary furnished by a member of the Coast Survey. We looked forward +to it as a sweet place of repose from the noontide heat. Alas! Elk +Cross Roads is a dirty grocery store, encumbered with dry-goods boxes, +fly-blown goods, flies, loafers. In reply to our inquiry we were told +that they had nothing to eat, for us, and not a grain of feed for the +horses. But there was a man a mile farther on, who was well to do and +had stores of food,--old man Tatern would treat us in bang-up style. The +difficulty of getting feed for the horses was chronic all through the +journey. The last corn crop had failed, the new oats and corn had not +come in, and the country was literally barren. We had noticed all along +that the hens were taking a vacation, and that chickens were not put +forward as an article of diet. + +We were unable, when we reached the residence of old man Tatem, to +imagine how the local superstition of his wealth arose. His house is +of logs, with two rooms, a kitchen and a spare room, with a low loft +accessible by a ladder at the side of the chimney. The chimney is a huge +construction of stone, separating the two parts of the house; in fact, +the chimney was built first, apparently, and the two rooms were then +built against it. The proprietor sat in a little railed veranda. These +Southern verandas give an air to the meanest dwelling, and they are much +used; the family sit here, and here are the washbasin and pail (which is +filled from the neighboring spring-house), and the row of milk-pans. +The old man Tatern did not welcome us with enthusiasm; he had no +corn,--these were hard times. He looked like hard times, grizzled times, +dirty times. It seemed time out of mind since he had seen comb or razor, +and although the lovely New River, along which we had ridden to his +house,--a broad, inviting stream,--was in sight across the meadow, there +was no evidence that he had ever made acquaintance with its cleansing +waters. As to corn, the necessities of the case and pay being dwelt on, +perhaps he could find a dozen ears. A dozen small cars he did find, and +we trust that the horses found them. + +We took a family dinner with old man Tatern in the kitchen, where there +was a bed and a stove,--a meal that the host seemed to enjoy, but which +we could not make much of, except the milk; that was good. A painful +meal, on the whole, owing to the presence in the room of a grown-up +daughter with a graveyard cough, without physician or medicine, or +comforts. Poor girl! just dying of “a misery.” + +In the spare room were two beds; the walls were decorated with the +gay-colored pictures of patent-medicine advertisements--a favorite art +adornment of the region; and a pile of ancient illustrated papers with +the usual patent-office report, the thoughtful gift of the member for +the district. The old man takes in the “Blue Ridge Baptist,” a journal +which we found largely taken up with the experiences of its editor on +his journeys roundabout in search of subscribers. This newspaper was the +sole communication of the family with the world at large, but the old +man thought he should stop it,--he did n't seem to get the worth of his +money out of it. And old man Tatem was a thrifty and provident man. On +the hearth in this best room--as ornaments or memento mori were a couple +of marble gravestones, a short headstone and foot-stone, mounted on +bases and ready for use, except the lettering. These may not have been +so mournful and significant as they looked, nor the evidence of simple, +humble faith; they may have been taken for debt. But as parlor ornaments +they had a fascination which we could not escape. + +It was while we were bathing in the New River, that afternoon, and +meditating on the grim, unrelieved sort of life of our host, that the +Professor said, “judging by the face of the 'Blue Ridge Baptist,' he +will charge us smartly for the few nubbins of corn and the milk.” The +face did not deceive us; the charge was one dollar. At this rate it +would have broken us to have tarried with old man Tatem (perhaps he is +not old, but that is the name he goes by) over night. + +It was a hot afternoon, and it needed some courage to mount and climb +the sandy hill leading us away from the corn-crib of Tatem. But we +entered almost immediately into fine stretches of forest, and rode under +the shade of great oaks. The way, which began by the New River, soon led +us over the hills to the higher levels of Watauga County. So far on our +journey we had been hemmed in by low hills, and without any distant +or mountain outlooks. The excessive heat seemed out of place at the +elevation of over two thousand feet, on which we were traveling. Boone, +the county seat of Watauga County, was our destination, and, ever since +morning, the guideboards and the trend of the roads had notified us that +everything in this region tends towards Boone as a center of interest. +The simple ingenuity of some of the guide-boards impressed us. If, on +coming to a fork, the traveler was to turn to the right, the sign read, + + To BOONE 10 M. +If he was to go to the left, it read, .M 01 ENOOB oT + +A short ride of nine miles, on an ascending road, through an open, +unfenced forest region, brought us long before sundown to this capital. +When we had ridden into its single street, which wanders over gentle +hills, and landed at the most promising of the taverns, the Friend +informed his comrade that Boone was 3250 feet above Albemarle Sound, and +believed by its inhabitants to be the highest village east of the +Rocky Mountains. The Professor said that it might be so, but it was a +God-forsaken place. Its inhabitants numbered perhaps two hundred and +fifty, a few of them colored. It had a gaunt, shaky court-house and +jail, a store or two, and two taverns. The two taverns are needed to +accommodate the judges and lawyers and their clients during the session +of the court. The court is the only excitement and the only amusement. +It is the event from which other events date. Everybody in the county +knows exactly when court sits, and when court breaks. During the session +the whole county is practically in Boone, men, women, and children. +They camp there, they attend the trials, they take sides; half of +them, perhaps, are witnesses, for the region is litigious, and the +neighborhood quarrels are entered into with spirit. To be fond of +lawsuits seems a characteristic of an isolated people in new conditions. +The early settlers of New England were. + +Notwithstanding the elevation of Boone, which insured a pure air, the +thermometer that afternoon stood at from 85 to 89 deg. The flies enjoyed +it. How they swarmed in this tavern! They would have carried off all +the food from the dining-room table (for flies do not mind eating +off oilcloth, and are not particular how food is cooked), but for the +machine with hanging flappers that swept the length of it; and they +destroy all possibility of sleep except in the dark. The mountain +regions of North Carolina are free from mosquitoes, but the fly has +settled there, and is the universal scourge. This tavern, one end of +which was a store, had a veranda in front, and a back gallery, where +there were evidences of female refinement in pots of plants and flowers. +The landlord himself kept tavern very much as a hostler would, but we +had to make a note in his favor that he had never heard of a milk punch. +And it might as well be said here, for it will have to be insisted on +later, that the traveler, who has read about the illicit stills till +his imagination dwells upon the indulgence of his vitiated tastes in the +mountains of North Carolina, is doomed to disappointment. If he wants +to make himself an exception to the sober people whose cooking will make +him long for the maddening bowl, he must bring his poison with him. +We had found no bread since we left Virginia; we had seen cornmeal and +water, slack-baked; we had seen potatoes fried in grease, and bacon +incrusted with salt (all thirst-provokers), but nothing to drink +stronger than buttermilk. And we can say that, so far as our example +is concerned, we left the country as temperate as we found it. How can +there be mint juleps (to go into details) without ice? and in the summer +there is probably not a pound of ice in all the State north of Buncombe +County. + +There is nothing special to be said about Boone. We were anxious to +reach it, we were glad to leave it; we note as to all these places +that our joy at departing always exceeds that on arriving, which is +a merciful provision of nature for people who must keep moving. This +country is settled by genuine Americans, who have the aboriginal +primitive traits of the universal Yankee nation. The front porch in the +morning resembled a carpenter's shop; it was literally covered with the +whittlings of the row of natives who had spent the evening there in the +sedative occupation of whittling. + +We took that morning a forest road to Valle Crusis, seven miles, through +noble growths of oaks, chestnuts, hemlocks, rhododendrons,--a charming +wood road, leading to a place that, as usual, did not keep the promise +of its name. Valle Crusis has a blacksmith shop and a dirty, flyblown +store. While the Professor consulted the blacksmith about a loose shoe, +the Friend carried his weariness of life without provisions up to a +white house on the hill, and negotiated for boiled milk. This house was +occupied by flies. They must have numbered millions, settled in black +swarms, covering tables, beds, walls, the veranda; the kitchen was +simply a hive of them. The only book in sight, Whewell's--“Elements of +Morality,” seemed to attract flies. Query, Why should this have such a +different effect from Porter's? A white house,--a pleasant-looking +house at a distance,--amiable, kindly people in it,--why should we have +arrived there on its dirty day? Alas! if we had been starving, Valle +Crusis had nothing to offer us. + +So we rode away, in the blazing heat, no poetry exuding from the +Professor, eight miles to Banner's Elk, crossing a mountain and passing +under Hanging Rock, a conspicuous feature in the landscape, and the only +outcropping of rock we had seen: the face of a ledge, rounded up into +the sky, with a green hood on it. From the summit we had the first +extensive prospect during our journey. The road can be described as +awful,--steep, stony, the horses unable to make two miles an hour on it. +Now and then we encountered a rude log cabin without barns or outhouses, +and a little patch of feeble corn. The women who regarded the passers +from their cabin doors were frowzy and looked tired. What with the heat +and the road and this discouraged appearance of humanity, we reached +the residence of Dugger, at Banner's Elk, to which we had been directed, +nearly exhausted. It is no use to represent this as a dash across +country on impatient steeds. It was not so. The love of truth is +stronger than the desire of display. And for this reason it is +impossible to say that Mr. Dugger, who is an excellent man, lives in +a clean and attractive house, or that he offers much that the pampered +child of civilization can eat. But we shall not forget the two eggs, +fresh from the hens, whose temperature must have been above the normal, +nor the spring-house in the glen, where we found a refuge from the flies +and the heat. The higher we go, the hotter it is. Banner's Elk boasts an +elevation of thirty-five to thirty-seven hundred feet. + +We were not sorry, towards sunset, to descend along the Elk River +towards Cranberry Forge. The Elk is a lovely stream, and, though not +very clear, has a reputation for trout; but all this region was under +operation of a three-years game law, to give the trout a chance to +multiply, and we had no opportunity to test the value of its reputation. +Yet a boy whom we encountered had a good string of quarter-pound trout, +which he had taken out with a hook and a feather rudely tied on it, to +resemble a fly. The road, though not to be commended, was much better +than that of the morning, the forests grew charming in the cool of the +evening, the whippoorwill sang, and as night fell the wanderers, in +want of nearly everything that makes life desirable, stopped at the Iron +Company's hotel, under the impression that it was the only comfortable +hotel in North Carolina. + + + + +II + +Cranberry Forge is the first wedge of civilization fairly driven into +the northwest mountains of North Carolina. A narrow-gauge railway, +starting from Johnson City, follows up the narrow gorge of the Doe +River, and pushes into the heart of the iron mines at Cranberry, +where there is a blast furnace; and where a big company store, rows of +tenement houses, heaps of slag and refuse ore, interlacing tracks, raw +embankments, denuded hillsides, and a blackened landscape, are the signs +of a great devastating American enterprise. The Cranberry iron is in +great esteem, as it has the peculiar quality of the Swedish iron. There +are remains of old furnaces lower down the stream, which we passed on +our way. The present “plant” is that of a Philadelphia company, +whose enterprise has infused new life into all this region, made it +accessible, and spoiled some pretty scenery. + +When we alighted, weary, at the gate of the pretty hotel, which crowns +a gentle hill and commands a pleasing, evergreen prospect of many gentle +hills, a mile or so below the works, and wholly removed from all sordid +associations, we were at the point of willingness that the whole country +should be devastated by civilization. In the local imagination this +hotel of the company is a palace of unequaled magnificence, but probably +its good taste, comfort, and quiet elegance are not appreciated after +all. There is this to be said about Philadelphia,--and it will go far +in pleading for it in the Last Day against its monotonous rectangularity +and the babel-like ambition of its Public Building,--that wherever its +influence extends, there will be found comfortable lodgings and the +luxury of an undeniably excellent cuisine. The visible seal that +Philadelphia sets on its enterprise all through the South is a good +hotel. + +This Cottage Beautiful has on two sides a wide veranda, set about with +easy chairs; cheerful parlors and pretty chambers, finished in +native woods, among which are conspicuous the satin stripes of the +cucumber-tree; luxurious beds, and an inviting table ordered by a +Philadelphia landlady, who knows a beefsteak from a boot-tap. Is it +“low” to dwell upon these things of the senses, when one is on a tour in +search of the picturesque? Let the reader ride from Abingdon through a +wilderness of cornpone and rusty bacon, and then judge. There were, +to be sure, novels lying about, and newspapers, and fragments of +information to be picked up about a world into which the travelers +seemed to emerge. They, at least, were satisfied, and went off to their +rooms with the restful feeling that they had arrived somewhere and no +unquiet spirit at morn would say “to horse.” To sleep, perchance to +dream of Tatem and his household cemetery; and the Professor was heard +muttering in his chamber, + + “Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, + The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; + But then begins a journey in my head, + To work my mind, when body's work's expir'd.” + +The morning was warm (the elevation of the hotel must be between +twenty-five hundred and three thousand feet), rainy, mildly rainy; and +the travelers had nothing better to do than lounge upon the veranda, +read feeble ten-cent fictions, and admire the stems of the white +birches, glistening in the moisture, and the rhododendron--trees, twenty +feet high, which were shaking off their last pink blossoms, and look +down into the valley of the Doe. It is not an exciting landscape, +nothing bold or specially wild in it, but restful with the monotony of +some of the wooded Pennsylvania hills. + +Sunday came up smiling, a lovely day, but offering no church privileges, +for the ordinance of preaching is only occasional in this region. +The ladies of the hotel have, however, gathered in the valley a +Sunday-school of fifty children from the mountain cabins. A couple +of rainy days, with the thermometer rising to 80 deg., combined with +natural laziness to detain the travelers in this cottage of ease. They +enjoyed this the more because it was on their consciences that they +should visit Linville Falls, some twenty-five miles eastward, long held +up before them as the most magnificent feature of this region, and on no +account to be omitted. Hence, naturally, a strong desire to omit it. The +Professor takes bold ground against these abnormal freaks of nature, and +it was nothing to him that the public would demand that we should see +Linville Falls. In the first place, we could find no one who had ever +seen them, and we spent two days in catechizing natives and strangers. +The nearest we came to information was from a workman at the furnace, +who was born and raised within three miles of the Falls. He had heard +of people going there. He had never seen them himself. It was a good +twenty-five miles there, over the worst road in the State we'd think it +thirty before we got there. Fifty miles of such travel to see a little +water run down-hill! The travelers reflected. Every country has a local +waterfall of which it boasts; they had seen a great many. One more would +add little to the experience of life. The vagueness of information, +to be sure, lured the travelers to undertake the journey; but the +temptation was resisted--something ought to be left for the next +explorer--and so Linville remains a thing of the imagination. + +Towards evening, July 29, between showers, the Professor and the Friend +rode along the narrow-gauge road, down Johnson's Creek, to Roan Station, +the point of departure for ascending Roan Mountain. It was a ride of +an hour and a half over a fair road, fringed with rhododendrons, nearly +blossomless; but at a point on the stream this sturdy shrub had formed +a long bower where under a table might have been set for a temperance +picnic, completely overgrown with wild grape, and still gay with bloom. +The habitations on the way are mostly board shanties and mean frame +cabins, but the railway is introducing ambitious architecture here +and there in the form of ornamental filigree work on flimsy houses; +ornamentation is apt to precede comfort in our civilization. + +Roan Station is on the Doe River (which flows down from Roan Mountain), +and is marked at 1265 feet above the sea. The visitor will find here a +good hotel, with open wood fires (not ungrateful in a July evening), and +obliging people. This railway from Johnson City, hanging on the edge of +the precipices that wall the gorge of the Doe, is counted in this region +by the inhabitants one of the engineering wonders of the world. The +tourist is urged by all means to see both it and Linville Falls. + +The tourist on horseback, in search of exercise and recreation, is not +probably expected to take stock of moral conditions. But this Mitchell +County, although it was a Union county during the war and is Republican +in politics (the Southern reader will perhaps prefer another adverb to +“although”), has had the worst possible reputation. The mountains +were hiding-places of illicit distilleries; the woods were full of +grog-shanties, where the inflaming fluid was sold as “native brandy,” + quarrels and neighborhood difficulties were frequent, and the knife +and pistol were used on the slightest provocation. Fights arose about +boundaries and the title to mica mines, and with the revenue officers; +and force was the arbiter of all disputes. Within the year four murders +were committed in the sparsely settled county. Travel on any of the +roads was unsafe. The tone of morals was what might be expected with +such lawlessness. A lady who came up on the road on the 4th of July, +when an excursion party of country people took possession of the cars, +witnessed a scene and heard language past belief. Men, women, and +children drank from whisky bottles that continually circulated, and a +wild orgy resulted. Profanity, indecent talk on topics that even the +license of the sixteenth century would not have tolerated, and freedom +of manners that even Teniers would have shrunk from putting on canvas, +made the journey horrible. + +The unrestrained license of whisky and assault and murder had produced a +reaction a few months previous to our visit. The people had risen up in +their indignation and broken up the groggeries. So far as we observed +temperance prevailed, backed by public-opinion. In our whole ride +through the mountain region we saw only one or two places where liquor +was sold. + +It is called twelve miles from Roan Station to Roan Summit. The distance +is probably nearer fourteen, and our horses were five hours in walking +it. For six miles the road runs by Doe River, here a pretty brook shaded +with laurel and rhododendron, and a few cultivated patches of ground, +and infrequent houses. It was a blithe morning, and the horsemen would +have given full indulgence to the spirit of adventure but for the +attitude of the Professor towards mountains. It was not with him a +matter of feeling, but of principle, not to ascend them. But here lay +Roan, a long, sprawling ridge, lifting itself 6250 feet up into the +sky. Impossible to go around it, and the other side must be reached. The +Professor was obliged to surrender, and surmount a difficulty which he +could not philosophize out of his mind. + +From the base of the mountain a road is very well engineered, in easy +grades for carriages, to the top; but it was in poor repair and stony. +We mounted slowly through splendid forests, specially of fine chestnuts +and hemlocks. This big timber continues till within a mile and a half +of the summit by the winding road, really within a short distance of the +top. Then there is a narrow belt of scrubby hardwood, moss-grown, and +then large balsams, which crown the mountain. As soon as we came +out upon the southern slope we found great open spaces, covered with +succulent grass, and giving excellent pasturage to cattle. These rich +mountain meadows are found on all the heights of this region. The +surface of Roan is uneven, and has no one culminating peak that commands +the country, like the peak of Mount Washington, but several eminences +within its range of probably a mile and a half, where various views can +be had. Near the highest point, sheltered from the north by balsams, +stands a house of entertainment, with a detached cottage, looking +across the great valley to the Black Mountain range. The surface of the +mountain is pebbly, but few rocks crop out; no ledges of any size are +seen except at a distance from the hotel, on the north side, and the +mountain consequently lacks that savage, unsubduable aspect which +the White Hills of New Hampshire have. It would, in fact, have been +difficult to realize that we were over six thousand feet above the sea, +except for that pallor in the sunlight, that atmospheric thinness and +want of color which is an unpleasant characteristic of high altitudes. +To be sure, there is a certain brilliancy in the high air,--it is apt to +be foggy on Roan,--and objects appear in sharp outline, but I have often +experienced on such places that feeling of melancholy, which would, +of course, deepen upon us all if we were sensible that the sun was +gradually withdrawing its power of warmth and light. The black balsam is +neither a cheerful nor a picturesque tree; the frequent rains and mists +on Roan keep the grass and mosses green, but the ground damp. Doubtless +a high mountain covered with vegetation has its compensation, but for me +the naked granite rocks in sun and shower are more cheerful. + +The advantage of Roan is that one can live there and be occupied for a +long time in mineral and botanical study. Its mild climate, moisture, +and great elevation make it unique in this country for the botanist. The +variety of plants assembled there is very large, and there are many, we +were told, never or rarely found elsewhere in the United States. At any +rate, the botanists rave about Roan Mountain, and spend weeks at a time +on it. We found there ladies who could draw for us Grey's lily (then +passed), and had kept specimens of the rhododendron (not growing +elsewhere in this region) which has a deep red, almost purple color. + +The hotel (since replaced by a good house) was a rude mountain +structure, with a couple of comfortable rooms for office and +sitting-room, in which big wood fires were blazing; for though the +thermometer might record 60 deg., as it did when we arrived, fire was +welcome. Sleeping-places partitioned off in the loft above gave +the occupants a feeling of camping out, all the conveniences being +primitive; and when the wind rose in the night and darkness, and the +loose boards rattled and the timbers creaked, the sensation was not +unlike that of being at sea. The hotel was satisfactorily kept, and +Southern guests, from as far south as New Orleans, were spending the +season there, and not finding time hang heavy on their hands. This +statement is perhaps worth more than pages of description as to the +character of Roan, and its contrast to Mount Washington. + +The summer weather is exceedingly uncertain on all these North Carolina +mountains; they are apt at any moment to be enveloped in mist; and it +would rather rain on them than not. On the afternoon of our arrival +there was fine air and fair weather, but not a clear sky. The distance +was hazy, but the outlines were preserved. We could see White Top, in +Virginia; Grandfather Mountain, a long serrated range; the twin towers +of Linville; and the entire range of the Black Mountains, rising from +the valley, and apparently lower than we were. They get the name of +Black from the balsams which cover the summits. + +The rain on Roan was of less annoyance by reason of the delightful +company assembled at the hotel, which was in a manner at home there, +and, thrown upon its own resources, came out uncommonly strong in +agreeableness. There was a fiddle in the house, which had some of the +virtues of that celebrated in the history of old Mark Langston; the +Professor was enabled to produce anything desired out of the literature +of the eighteenth century; and what with the repartee of bright women, +big wood fires, reading, and chat, there was no dull day or evening on +Roan. I can fancy, however, that it might tire in time, if one were not +a botanist, without the resource of women's society. The ladies staying +here were probably all accomplished botanists, and the writer is +indebted to one of them for a list of plants found on Roan, among which +is an interesting weed, catalogued as Humana, perplexia negligens. The +species is, however, common elsewhere. + +The second morning opened, after a night of high wind, with a +thunder-shower. After it passed, the visitors tried to reach Eagle +Cliff, two miles off, whence an extensive western prospect is had, but +were driven back by a tempest, and rain practically occupied the +day. Now and then through the parted clouds we got a glimpse of a +mountain-side, or the gleam of a valley. On the lower mountains, at wide +intervals apart, were isolated settlements, commonly a wretched cabin +and a spot of girdled trees. A clergyman here, not long ago, undertook +to visit some of these cabins and carry his message to them. In +one wretched hut of logs he found a poor woman, with whom, after +conversation on serious subjects, he desired to pray. She offered no +objection, and he kneeled down and prayed. The woman heard him, and +watched him for some moments with curiosity, in an effort to ascertain +what he was doing, and then said: + +“Why, a man did that when he put my girl in a hole.” + +Towards night the wind hauled round from the south to the northwest, and +we went to High Bluff, a point on the north edge, where some rocks are +piled up above the evergreens, to get a view of the sunset. In every +direction the mountains were clear, and a view was obtained of the vast +horizon and the hills and lowlands of several States--a continental +prospect, scarcely anywhere else equaled for variety or distance. The +grandeur of mountains depends mostly on the state of the atmosphere. +Grandfather loomed up much more loftily than the day before, the giant +range of the Blacks asserted itself in grim inaccessibility, and we +could see, a small pyramid on the southwest horizon, King's Mountain in +South Carolina, estimated to be distant one hundred and fifty miles. To +the north Roan falls from this point abruptly, and we had, like a map +below us, the low country all the way into Virginia. The clouds lay like +lakes in the valleys of the lower hills, and in every direction were +ranges of mountains wooded to the summits. Off to the west by south lay +the Great Smoky Mountains, disputing eminence with the Blacks. + +Magnificent and impressive as the spectacle was, we were obliged to +contrast it unfavorably with that of the White Hills. The rock here is a +sort of sand or pudding stone; there is no limestone or granite. And +all the hills are tree-covered. To many this clothing of verdure is most +restful and pleasing. I missed the sharp outlines, the delicate artistic +sky lines, sharply defined in uplifted bare granite peaks and ridges, +with the purple and violet color of the northern mountains, and which it +seems to me that limestone and granite formations give. There are none +of the great gorges and awful abysses of the White Mountains, both +valleys and mountains here being more uniform in outline. There are few +precipices and jutting crags, and less is visible of the giant ribs and +bones of the planet. + +Yet Roan is a noble mountain. A lady from Tennessee asked me if I +had ever seen anything to compare with it--she thought there could be +nothing in the world. One has to dodge this sort of question in the +South occasionally, not to offend a just local pride. It is certainly +one of the most habitable of big mountains. It is roomy on top, there is +space to move about without too great fatigue, and one might pleasantly +spend a season there, if he had agreeable company and natural tastes. + +Getting down from Roan on the south side is not as easy as ascending on +the north; the road for five miles to the foot of the mountain is merely +a river of pebbles, gullied by the heavy rains, down which the horses +picked their way painfully. The travelers endeavored to present a +dashing and cavalier appearance to the group of ladies who waved good-by +from the hotel, as they took their way over the waste and wind-blown +declivities, but it was only a show, for the horses would neither +caracole nor champ the bit (at a dollar a day) down-hill over the +slippery stones, and, truth to tell, the wanderers turned with regret +from the society of leisure and persiflage to face the wilderness of +Mitchell County. + +“How heavy,” exclaimed the Professor, pricking Laura Matilda to call her +attention sharply to her footing-- + + “How heavy do I journey on the way, + When what I seek--my weary travel's end + Doth teach that ease and that repose to say, + Thus far the miles are measur'd from thy friend! + The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, + Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, + As if by some instinct the wretch did know + His rider loved not speed, being made from thee: + The bloody spur cannot provoke him on + That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, + Which heavily he answers with a groan, + More sharp to me than spurring to his side; + For that same groan doth put this in my mind; + My grief lies onward and my joy behind.” + +This was not spoken to the group who fluttered their farewells, +but poured out to the uncomplaining forest, which rose up in +ever statelier--and grander ranks to greet the travelers as they +descended--the silent, vast forest, without note of bird or chip of +squirrel, only the wind tossing the great branches high overhead in +response to the sonnet. Is there any region or circumstance of life that +the poet did not forecast and provide for? But what would have been his +feelings if he could have known that almost three centuries after these +lines were penned, they would be used to express the emotion of an +unsentimental traveler in the primeval forests of the New World? At any +rate, he peopled the New World with the children of his imagination. +And, thought the Friend, whose attention to his horse did not permit him +to drop into poetry, Shakespeare might have had a vision of this vast +continent, though he did not refer to it, when he exclaimed: + + “What is your substance, whereof are you made, + That millions of strange shadows on you tend?” + +Bakersville, the capital of Mitchell County, is eight miles from the +top of Roan, and the last three miles of the way the horsemen found +tolerable going, over which the horses could show their paces. The +valley looked fairly thrifty and bright, and was a pleasing introduction +to Bakersville, a pretty place in the hills, of some six hundred +inhabitants, with two churches, three indifferent hotels, and a +court-house. This mountain town, 2550 feet above the sea, is said +to have a decent winter climate, with little snow, favorable to +fruit-growing, and, by contrast with New England, encouraging to people +with weak lungs. + +This is the center of the mica mining, and of considerable excitement +about minerals. All around, the hills are spotted with “diggings.” Most +of the mines which yield well show signs of having been worked before, +a very long time ago, no doubt by the occupants before the Indians. The +mica is of excellent quality and easily mined. It is got out in large +irregular-shaped blocks and transported to the factories, where it is +carefully split by hand, and the laminae, of as large size as can be +obtained, are trimmed with shears and tied up in packages for market. +The quantity of refuse, broken, and rotten mica piled up about the +factories is immense, and all the roads round about glisten with its +scales. Garnets are often found imbedded in the laminae, flattened by +the extreme pressure to which the mass was subjected. It is fascinating +material, this mica, to handle, and we amused ourselves by experimenting +on the thinness to which its scales could be reduced by splitting. It +was at Bakersville that we saw specimens of mica that resembled the +delicate tracery in the moss-agate and had the iridescent sheen of the +rainbow colors--the most delicate greens, reds, blues, purples, and +gold, changing from one to the other in the reflected light. In +the texture were the tracings of fossil forms of ferns and the most +exquisite and delicate vegetable beauty of the coal age. But the +magnet shows this tracery to be iron. We were shown also emeralds and +“diamonds,” picked up in this region, and there is a mild expectation in +all the inhabitants of great mineral treasure. A singular product of the +region is the flexible sandstone. It is a most uncanny stone. A slip of +it a couple of feet long and an inch in diameter each way bends in the +hand like a half-frozen snake. This conduct of a substance that we have +been taught to regard as inflexible impairs one's confidence in the +stability of nature and affects him as an earthquake does. + +This excitement over mica and other minerals has the usual effect of +starting up business and creating bad blood. Fortunes have been +made, and lost in riotous living; scores of visionary men have been +disappointed; lawsuits about titles and claims have multiplied, and +quarrels ending in murder have been frequent in the past few years. The +mica and the illicit whisky have worked together to make this region one +of lawlessness and violence. The travelers were told stories of the lack +of common morality and decency in the region, but they made no note of +them. And, perhaps fortunately, they were not there during court week +to witness the scenes of license that were described. This court week, +which draws hither the whole population, is a sort of Saturnalia. +Perhaps the worst of this is already a thing of the past; for the +outrages a year before had reached such a pass that by a common movement +the sale of whisky was stopped (not interdicted, but stopped), and not a +drop of liquor could be bought in Bakersville nor within three miles of +it. + +The jail at Bakersville is a very simple residence. The main building is +brick, two stories high and about twelve feet square. The walls are so +loosely laid up that it seems as if a colored prisoner might butt his +head through. Attached to this is a room for the jailer. In the lower +room is a wooden cage, made of logs bolted together and filled with +spikes, nine feet by ten feet square and perhaps seven or eight feet +high. Between this cage and the wall is a space of eighteen inches in +width. It has a narrow door, and an opening through which the food is +passed to the prisoners, and a conduit leading out of it. Of course it +soon becomes foul, and in warm weather somewhat warm. A recent prisoner, +who wanted more ventilation than the State allowed him, found some +means, by a loose plank, I think, to batter a hole in the outer wall +opposite the window in the cage, and this ragged opening, seeming to the +jailer a good sanitary arrangement, remains. Two murderers occupied this +apartment at the time of our visit. During the recent session of court, +ten men had been confined in this narrow space, without room enough for +them to lie down together. The cage in the room above, a little larger, +had for tenant a person who was jailed for some misunderstanding about +an account, and who was probably innocent--from the jailer's statement. +This box is a wretched residence, month after month, while awaiting +trial. + +We learned on inquiry that it is practically impossible to get a jury to +convict of murder in this region, and that these admitted felons would +undoubtedly escape. We even heard that juries were purchasable here, +and that a man's success in court depended upon the length of his purse. +This is such an unheard-of thing that we refused to credit it. When the +Friend attempted to arouse the indignation of the Professor about the +barbarity of this jail, the latter defended it on the ground that +as confinement was the only punishment that murderers were likely to +receive in this region, it was well to make their detention disagreeable +to them. But the Friend did not like this wild-beast cage for men, and +could only exclaim, + +“Oh, murder! what crimes are done in thy name.” + +If the comrades wished an adventure, they had a small one, more +interesting to them than to the public, the morning they left +Bakersville to ride to Burnsville, which sets itself up as the capital +of Yancey. The way for the first three miles lay down a small creek and +in a valley fairly settled, the houses, a store, and a grist-mill +giving evidence of the new enterprise of the region. When Toe River was +reached, there was a choice of routes. We might ford the Toe at that +point, where the river was wide, but shallow, and the crossing safe, +and climb over the mountain by a rough but sightly road, or descend the +stream by a better road and ford the river at a place rather dangerous +to those unfamiliar with it. The danger attracted us, but we promptly +chose the hill road on account of the views, for we were weary of the +limited valley prospects. + +The Toe River, even here, where it bears westward, is a very respectable +stream in size, and not to be trifled with after a shower. It gradually +turns northward, and, joining the Nollechucky, becomes part of the +Tennessee system. We crossed it by a long, diagonal ford, slipping and +sliding about on the round stones, and began the ascent of a steep hill. +The sun beat down unmercifully, the way was stony, and the horses did +not relish the weary climbing. The Professor, who led the way, not for +the sake of leadership, but to be the discoverer of laden blackberry +bushes, which began to offer occasional refreshment, discouraged by the +inhospitable road and perhaps oppressed by the moral backwardness of +things in general, cried out: + + “Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,-- + As, to behold desert a beggar born, + And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, + And purest faith unhappily foresworn, + And gilded honor shamefully misplaced, + And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, + And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, + And strength by limping sway disabled, + And art made tongue-tied by authority, + And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, + And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, + And captive good attending captain ill: + Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, + Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.” + +In the midst of a lively discussion of this pessimistic view of the +inequalities of life, in which desert and capacity are so often put +at disadvantage by birth in beggarly conditions, and brazen assumption +raises the dust from its chariot wheels for modest merit to plod along +in, the Professor swung himself off his horse to attack a blackberry +bush, and the Friend, representing simple truth, and desirous of getting +a wider prospect, urged his horse up the hill. At the top he encountered +a stranger, on a sorrel horse, with whom he entered into conversation +and extracted all the discouragement the man had as to the road to +Burnsville. + +Nevertheless, the view opened finely and extensively. There are few +exhilarations comparable to that of riding or walking along a high +ridge, and the spirits of the traveler rose many degrees above the point +of restful death, for which the Professor was crying when he encountered +the blackberry bushes. Luckily the Friend soon fell in with a like +temptation, and dismounted. He discovered something that spoiled his +appetite for berries. His coat, strapped on behind the saddle, had +worked loose, the pocket was open, and the pocket-book was gone. This +was serious business. For while the Professor was the cashier, and +traveled like a Rothschild, with large drafts, the Friend represented +the sub-treasury. That very morning, in response to inquiry as to the +sinews of travel, the Friend had displayed, without counting, a roll of +bills. These bills had now disappeared, and when the Friend turned back +to communicate his loss, in the character of needy nothing not trimm'd +in jollity, he had a sympathetic listener to the tale of woe. + +Going back on such a journey is the woefulest experience, but retrace +our steps we must. Perhaps the pocket-book lay in the road not half a +mile back. But not in half a mile, or a mile, was it found. Probably, +then, the man on the sorrel horse had picked it up. But who was the man +on the sorrel horse, and where had he gone? Probably the coat worked +loose in crossing Toe River and the pocket-book had gone down-stream. +The number of probabilities was infinite, and each more plausible than +the others as it occurred to us. We inquired at every house we had +passed on the way, we questioned every one we met. At length it began +to seem improbable that any one would remember if he had picked up a +pocketbook that morning. This is just the sort of thing that slips an +untrained memory. + +At a post office or doctor's shop, or inn for drovers, it might be +either or neither, where several horses were tied to the fence, and a +group of men were tilted back in cane chairs on the veranda, we unfolded +our misfortune and made particular inquiries for a man on a sorrel +horse. Yes, such a man, David Thomas by name, had just ridden towards +Bakersville. If he had found the pocket-book, we would recover it. He +was an honest man. It might, however, fall into hands that would freeze +to it. + +Upon consultation, it was the general verdict that there were men in +the county who would keep it if they had picked it up. But the assembly +manifested the liveliest interest in the incident. One suggested Toe +River. Another thought it risky to drop a purse on any road. But there +was a chorus of desire expressed that we should find it, and in this +anxiety was exhibited a decided sensitiveness about the honor of +Mitchell County. It seemed too bad that a stranger should go away with +the impression that it was not safe to leave money anywhere in it. We +felt very much obliged for this genuine sympathy, and we told them that +if a pocket-book were lost in this way on a Connecticut road, there +would be felt no neighborhood responsibility for it, and that nobody +would take any interest in the incident except the man who lost, and the +man who found. + +By the time the travelers pulled up at a store in Bakersville they +had lost all expectation of recovering the missing article, and were +discussing the investment of more money in an advertisement in the +weekly newspaper of the capital. The Professor, whose reform sentiments +agreed with those of the newspaper, advised it. There was a group of +idlers, mica acquaintances of the morning, and philosophers in front of +the store, and the Friend opened the colloquy by asking if a man named +David Thomas had been seen in town. He was in town, had ridden in within +an hour, and his brother, who was in the group, would go in search of +him. The information was then given of the loss, and that the rider had +met David Thomas just before it was discovered, on the mountain beyond +the Toe. The news made a sensation, and by the time David Thomas +appeared a crowd of a hundred had drawn around the horsemen eager for +further developments. Mr. Thomas was the least excited of the group as +he took his position on the sidewalk, conscious of the dignity of the +occasion and that he was about to begin a duel in which both reputation +and profit were concerned. He recollected meeting the travelers in the +morning. + +The Friend said, “I discovered that I had lost my purse just after +meeting you; it may have been dropped in Toe River, but I was told back +here that if David Thomas had picked it up, it was as safe as if it were +in the bank.” + +“What sort of a pocket-book was it?” asked Mr. Thomas. + +“It was of crocodile skin, or what is sold for that, very likely it is +an imitation, and about so large indicating the size.” + +“What had it in it?” + +“Various things. Some specimens of mica; some bank checks, some money.” + +“Anything else?” + +“Yes, a photograph. And, oh, something that I presume is not in another +pocket-book in North Carolina,--in an envelope, a lock of the hair of +George Washington, the Father of his Country.” Sensation mixed with +incredulity. Washington's hair did seem such an odd part of an outfit +for a journey of this kind. + +“How much money was in it?” + +“That I cannot say, exactly. I happen to remember four twenty-dollar +United States notes, and a roll of small bills, perhaps something over a +hundred dollars.” + +“Is that the pocket-book?” asked David Thomas, slowly pulling the loved +and lost out of his trousers pocket. + +“It is.” + +“You'd be willing to take your oath on it?” + +“I should be delighted to.” + +“Well, I guess there ain't so much money in it. You can count it +[handing it over]; there hain't been nothing taken out. I can't read, +but my friend here counted it over, and he says there ain't as much as +that.” + +Intense interest in the result of the counting. One hundred and ten +dollars! The Friend selected one of the best engraved of the notes, and +appealed to the crowd if they thought that was the square thing to do. +They did so think, and David Thomas said it was abundant. And then said +the Friend: + +“I'm exceedingly grateful to you besides. Washington's hair is getting +scarce, and I did not want to lose these few hairs, gray as they are. +You've done the honest thing, Mr. Thomas, as was expected of you. You +might have kept the whole. But I reckon if there had been five hundred +dollars in the book and you had kept it, it wouldn't have done you half +as much good as giving it up has done; and your reputation as an honest +man is worth a good deal more than this pocket-book. [The Professor +was delighted with this sentiment, because it reminded him of a +Sunday-school.] I shall go away with a high opinion of the honesty of +Mitchell County.” + +“Oh, he lives in Yancey,” cried two or three voices. At which there was +a great laugh. + +“Well, I wondered where he came from.” And the Mitchell County people +laughed again at their own expense, and the levee broke up. It was +exceedingly gratifying, as we spread the news of the recovered property +that afternoon at every house on our way to the Toe, to see what +pleasure it gave. Every man appeared to feel that the honor of the +region had been on trial--and had stood the test. + +The eighteen miles to Burnsville had now to be added to the morning +excursion, but the travelers were in high spirits, feeling the truth of +the adage that it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have +lost at all. They decided, on reflection, to join company with the +mail-rider, who was going to Burnsville by the shorter route, and could +pilot them over the dangerous ford of the Toe. + +The mail-rider was a lean, sallow, sinewy man, mounted on a sorry sorrel +nag, who proved, however, to have blood in her, and to be a fast walker +and full of endurance. The mail-rider was taciturn, a natural habit +for a man who rides alone the year round, over a lonely road, and has +nothing whatever to think of. He had been in the war sixteen months, in +Hugh White's regiment,--reckon you've heerd of him? + +“Confederate?” + +“Which?” + +“Was he on the Union or Confederate side?” + +“Oh, Union.” + +“Were you in any engagements?” + +“Which?” + +“Did you have any fighting?” + +“Not reg'lar.” + +“What did you do?” + +“Which?” + +“What did you do in Hugh White's regiment?” + +“Oh, just cavorted round the mountains.” + +“You lived on the country?” + +“Which?” + +“Picked up what you could find, corn, bacon, horses?” + +“That's about so. Did n't make much difference which side was round, the +country got cleaned out.” + +“Plunder seems to have been the object?” + +“Which?” + +“You got a living out of the farmers?” + +“You bet.” + +Our friend and guide seemed to have been a jayhawker and mountain +marauder--on the right side. His attachment to the word “which” + prevented any lively flow of conversation, and there seemed to be only +two trains of ideas running in his mind: one was the subject of horses +and saddles, and the other was the danger of the ford we were coming to, +and he exhibited a good deal of ingenuity in endeavoring to excite +our alarm. He returned to the ford from every other conversational +excursion, and after every silence. + +“I do' know's there 's any great danger; not if you know the ford. Folks +is carried away there. The Toe gits up sudden. There's been right smart +rain lately. + +“If you're afraid, you can git set over in a dugout, and I'll take your +horses across. Mebbe you're used to fording? It's a pretty bad ford +for them as don't know it. But you'll get along if you mind your eye. +There's some rocks you'll have to look out for. But you'll be all right +if you follow me.” + +Not being very successful in raising an interest in the dangers of his +ford, although he could not forego indulging a malicious pleasure +in trying to make the strangers uncomfortable, he finally turned his +attention to a trade. “This hoss of mine,” he said, “is just the kind of +brute-beast you want for this country. Your hosses is too heavy. How'll +you swap for that one o' yourn?” The reiterated assertion that the +horses were not ours, that they were hired, made little impression on +him. All the way to Burnsville he kept referring to the subject of a +trade. The instinct of “swap” was strong in him. When we met a yoke of +steers, he turned round and bantered the owner for a trade. Our saddles +took his fancy. They were of the army pattern, and he allowed that one +of them would just suit him. He rode a small flat English pad, across +which was flung the United States mail pouch, apparently empty. He +dwelt upon the fact that his saddle was new and ours were old, and the +advantages that would accrue to us from the exchange. He did n't care +if they had been through the war, as they had, for he fancied an army +saddle. The Friend answered for himself that the saddle he rode belonged +to a distinguished Union general, and had a bullet in it that was put +there by a careless Confederate in the first battle of Bull Run, and the +owner would not part with it for money. But the mail-rider said he did +n't mind that. He would n't mind swapping his new saddle for my old one +and the rubber coat and leggings. Long before we reached the ford we +thought we would like to swap the guide, even at the risk of drowning. +The ford was passed, in due time, with no inconvenience save that of wet +feet, for the stream was breast high to the horses; but being broad and +swift and full of sunken rocks and slippery stones, and the crossing +tortuous, it is not a ford to be commended. There is a curious delusion +that a rider has in crossing a swift broad stream. It is that he is +rapidly drifting up-stream, while in fact the tendency of the horse is +to go with the current. + +The road in the afternoon was not unpicturesque, owing to the streams +and the ever noble forests, but the prospect was always very limited. +Agriculturally, the country was mostly undeveloped. The travelers +endeavored to get from the rider an estimate of the price of land. Not +much sold, he said. “There was one sale of a big piece last year; the +owner enthorited Big Tom Wilson to sell it, but I d'know what he got for +it.” + +All the way along, the habitations were small log cabins, with one room, +chinked with mud, and these were far between; and only occasionally +thereby a similar log structure, unchinked, laid up like a cob house, +that served for a stable. Not much cultivation, except now and then +a little patch of poor corn on a steep hillside, occasionally a few +apple-trees, and a peach-tree without fruit. Here and there was a house +that had been half finished and then abandoned, or a shanty in which a +couple of young married people were just beginning life. Generally the +cabins (confirming the accuracy of the census of 1880) swarmed with +children, and nearly all the women were thin and sickly. + +In the day's ride we did not see a wheeled vehicle, and only now +and then a horse. We met on the road small sleds, drawn by a steer, +sometimes by a cow, on which a bag of grist was being hauled to the +mill, and boys mounted on steers gave us good-evening with as much pride +as if they were bestriding fiery horses. + +In a house of the better class, which was a post-house, and where the +rider and the woman of the house had a long consultation over a letter +to be registered, we found the rooms decorated with patent-medicine +pictures, which were often framed in strips of mica, an evidence of +culture that was worth noting. Mica was the rage. Every one with whom +we talked, except the rider, had more or less the mineral fever. The +impression was general that the mountain region of North Carolina was +entering upon a career of wonderful mineral development, and the most +extravagant expectations were entertained. Mica was the shining object +of most “prospecting,” but gold was also on the cards. + +The country about Burnsville is not only mildly picturesque, but very +pleasing. Burnsville, the county-seat of Yancey, at an elevation of 2840 +feet, is more like a New England village than any hitherto seen. Most of +the houses stand about a square, which contains the shabby court-house; +around it are two small churches, a jail, an inviting tavern with a long +veranda, and a couple of stores. On an overlooking hill is the seminary. +Mica mining is the exciting industry, but it is agriculturally a good +country. The tavern had recently been enlarged to meet the new demands +for entertainment and is a roomy structure, fresh with paint and +only partially organized. The travelers were much impressed with the +brilliant chambers, the floors of which were painted in alternate +stripes of vivid green and red. The proprietor, a very intelligent +and enterprising man, who had traveled often in the North, was full +of projects for the development of his region and foremost in its +enterprises, and had formed a considerable collection of minerals. +Besides, more than any one else we met, he appreciated the beauty of his +country, and took us to a neighboring hill, where we had a view of +Table Mountain to the east and the nearer giant Blacks. The elevation of +Burnsville gives it a delightful summer climate, the gentle undulations +of the country are agreeable, the views noble, the air is good, and +it is altogether a “livable” and attractive place. With facilities of +communication, it would be a favorite summer resort. Its nearness to the +great mountains (the whole Black range is in Yancey County), its fine +pure air, its opportunity for fishing and hunting, commend it to those +in search of an interesting and restful retreat in summer. + +But it should be said that before the country can attract and retain +travelers, its inhabitants must learn something about the preparation of +food. If, for instance, the landlord's wife at Burnsville had traveled +with her husband, her table would probably have been more on a level +with his knowledge of the world, and it would have contained something +that the wayfaring man, though a Northerner, could eat. We have been on +the point several times in this journey of making the observation, but +have been restrained by a reluctance to touch upon politics, that it was +no wonder that a people with such a cuisine should have rebelled. The +travelers were in a rebellious mood most of the time. + +The evidences of enterprise in this region were pleasant to see, but +the observers could not but regret, after all, the intrusion of the +money-making spirit, which is certain to destroy much of the present +simplicity. It is as yet, to a degree, tempered by a philosophic spirit. +The other guest of the house was a sedate, long-bearded traveler for +some Philadelphia house, and in the evening he and the landlord fell +into a conversation upon what Socrates calls the disadvantage of the +pursuit of wealth to the exclusion of all noble objects, and they let +their fancy play about Vanderbilt, who was agreed to be the richest man +in the world, or that ever lived. + +“All I want,” said the long-bearded man, “is enough to be comfortable. I +would n't have Vanderbilt's wealth if he'd give it to me.” + +“Nor I,” said the landlord. “Give me just enough to be comfortable.” + [The tourist couldn't but note that his ideas of enough to be +comfortable had changed a good deal since he had left his little farm +and gone into the mica business, and visited New York, and enlarged and +painted his tavern.] “I should like to know what more Vanderbilt gets +out of his money than I get out of mine. I heard tell of a young man who +went to Vanderbilt to get employment. Vanderbilt finally offered to give +the young man, if he would work for him, just what he got himself. The +young man jumped at that--he'd be perfectly satisfied with that pay. +And Vanderbilt said that all he got was what he could eat and wear, and +offered to give the young man his board and clothes.” + +“I declare” said the long-bearded man. “That's just it. Did you ever see +Vanderbilt's house? Neither did I, but I heard he had a vault built in +it five feet thick, solid. He put in it two hundred millions of dollars, +in gold. After a year, he opened it and put in twelve millions more, +and called that a poor year. They say his house has gold shutters to the +windows, so I've heard.” + +“I shouldn't wonder,” said the landlord. “I heard he had one door in +his house cost forty thousand dollars. I don't know what it is made of, +unless it's made of gold.” + +Sunday was a hot and quiet day. The stores were closed and the two +churches also, this not being the Sunday for the itinerant preacher. The +jail also showed no sign of life, and when we asked about it, we learned +that it was empty, and had been for some time. No liquor is sold in the +place, nor within at least three miles of it. It is not much use to try +to run a jail without liquor. + +In the course of the morning a couple of stout fellows arrived, leading +between them a young man whom they had arrested,--it didn't appear on +any warrant, but they wanted to get him committed and locked up. The +offense charged was carrying a pistol; the boy had not used it against +anybody, but he had flourished it about and threatened, and the +neighbors wouldn't stand that; they were bound to enforce the law +against carrying concealed weapons. + +The captors were perfectly good-natured and on friendly enough terms +with the young man, who offered no resistance, and seemed not unwilling +to go to jail. But a practical difficulty arose. The jail was locked +up, the sheriff had gone away into the country with the key, and no +one could get in. It did not appear that there was any provision for +boarding the man in jail; no one in fact kept it. The sheriff was sent +for, but was not to be found, and the prisoner and his captors loafed +about the square all day, sitting on the fence, rolling on the grass, +all of them sustained by a simple trust that the jail would be open some +time. + +Late in the afternoon we left them there, trying to get into the +jail. But we took a personal leaf out of this experience. Our Virginia +friends, solicitous for our safety in this wild country, had urged us +not to venture into it without arms--take at least, they insisted, a +revolver each. And now we had to congratulate ourselves that we had +not done so. If we had, we should doubtless on that Sunday have been +waiting, with the other law-breaker, for admission into the Yancey +County jail. + + + + +III + +From Burnsville the next point in our route was Asheville, the most +considerable city in western North Carolina, a resort of fashion, and +the capital of Buncombe County. It is distant some forty to forty-five +miles, too long a journey for one day over such roads. The easier +and common route is by the Ford of Big Ivy, eighteen miles, the first +stopping-place; and that was a long ride for the late afternoon when we +were in condition to move. + +The landlord suggested that we take another route, stay that night on +Caney River with Big Tom Wilson, only eight miles from Burnsville, cross +Mount Mitchell, and go down the valley of the Swannanoa to Asheville. He +represented this route as shorter and infinitely more picturesque. There +was nothing worth seeing on the Big Ivy way. With scarcely a moment's +reflection and while the horses were saddling, we decided to ride to Big +Tom Wilson's. I could not at the time understand, and I cannot now, why +the Professor consented. I should hardly dare yet confess to my +fixed purpose to ascend Mount Mitchell. It was equally fixed in the +Professor's mind not to do it. We had not discussed it much. But it is +safe to say that if he had one well-defined purpose on this trip, it was +not to climb Mitchell. “Not,” as he put it,-- + + “Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul + Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,” + +had suggested the possibility that he could do it. + +But at the moment the easiest thing to do seemed to be to ride down +to Wilson's. When there we could turn across country to the Big Ivy, +although, said the landlord, you can ride over Mitchell just as easy as +anywhere--a lady rode plump over the peak of it last week, and never got +off her horse. You are not obliged to go; at Big Tom's, you can go any +way you please. + +Besides, Big Tom himself weighed in the scale more than Mount +Mitchell, and not to see him was to miss one of the most characteristic +productions of the country, the typical backwoodsman, hunter, guide. So +we rode down Bolling Creek, through a pretty, broken country, crossed +the Caney River, and followed it up a few miles to Wilson's plantation. +There are little intervales along the river, where hay is cut and corn +grown, but the region is not much cleared, and the stock browse about in +the forest. Wilson is the agent of the New York owner of a tract of +some thirteen thousand acres of forest, including the greater portion of +Mount Mitchell, a wilderness well stocked with bears and deer, and +full of streams abounding in trout. It is also the playground of the +rattlesnake. With all these attractions Big Tom's life is made lively in +watching game poachers, and endeavoring to keep out the foraging cattle +of the few neighbors. It is not that the cattle do much injury in +the forest, but the looking after them is made a pretense for roaming +around, and the roamers are liable to have to defend themselves against +the deer, or their curiosity is excited about the bears, and lately they +have taken to exploding powder in the streams to kill the fish. + +Big Tom's plantation has an openwork stable, an ill-put-together frame +house, with two rooms and a kitchen, and a veranda in front, a loft, and +a spring-house in the rear. Chickens and other animals have free run +of the premises. Some fish-rods hung in the porch, and hunter's gear +depended on hooks in the passage-way to the kitchen. In one room were +three beds, in the other two, only one in the kitchen. On the porch was +a loom, with a piece of cloth in process. The establishment had the +air of taking care of itself. Neither Big Tom nor his wife was at home. +Sunday seemed to be a visiting day, and the travelers had met many +parties on horseback. Mrs. Wilson was away for a visit of a day or two. +One of the sons, who was lounging on the veranda, was at last induced +to put up the horses; a very old woman, who mumbled and glared at the +visitors, was found in the kitchen, but no intelligible response could +be got out of her. Presently a bright little girl, the housekeeper in +charge, appeared. She said that her paw had gone up to her brother's +(her brother was just married and lived up the river in the house where +Mr. Murchison stayed when he was here) to see if he could ketch a bear +that had been rootin' round in the corn-field the night before. She +expected him back by sundown--by dark anyway. 'Les he'd gone after the +bear, and then you could n't tell when he would come. + +It appeared that Big Tom was a thriving man in the matter of family. +More boys appeared. Only one was married, but four had “got their time.” + As night approached, and no Wilson, there was a good deal of lively and +loud conversation about the stock and the chores, in all of which the +girl took a leading and intelligent part, showing a willingness to do +her share, but not to have all the work put upon her. It was time to go +down the road and hunt up the cows; the mule had disappeared and must +be found before dark; a couple of steers hadn't turned up since the day +before yesterday, and in the midst of the gentle contention as to whose +business all this was, there was an alarm of cattle in the corn-patch, +and the girl started off on a run in that direction. It was due to the +executive ability of this small girl, after the cows had been milked and +the mule chased and the boys properly stirred up, that we had supper. +It was of the oilcloth, iron fork, tin spoon, bacon, hot bread and +honey variety, distinguished, however, from all meals we had endured or +enjoyed before by the introduction of fried eggs (as the breakfast next +morning was by the presence of chicken), and it was served by the active +maid with right hearty good-will and genuine hospitable intent. + +While it was in progress, after nine o'clock, Big Tom arrived, and, with +a simple greeting, sat down and attacked the supper and began to tell +about the bear. There was not much to tell except that he hadn't seen +the bear, and that, judged by his tracks and his sloshing around, he +must be a big one. But a trap had been set for him, and he judged it +wouldn't be long before we had some bear meat. Big Tom Wilson, as he is +known all over this part of the State, would not attract attention from +his size. He is six feet and two inches tall, very spare and muscular, +with sandy hair, long gray beard, and honest blue eyes. He has a +reputation for great strength and endurance; a man of native simplicity +and mild manners. He had been rather expecting us from what Mr. +Murchison wrote; he wrote (his son had read out the letter) that Big Tom +was to take good care of us, and anybody that Mr. Murchison sent could +have the best he'd got. + +Big Tom joined us in our room after supper. This apartment, with two +mighty feather-beds, was hung about with all manner of stuffy family +clothes, and had in one end a vast cavern for a fire. The floor was +uneven, and the hearthstones billowy. When the fire was lighted, the +effect of the bright light in the cavern and the heavy shadows in the +room was Rembrandtish. Big Tom sat with us before the fire and told bear +stories. Talk? Why, it was not the least effort. The stream flowed on +without a ripple. “Why, the old man,” one of the sons confided to us +next morning, “can begin and talk right over Mount Mitchell and all the +way back, and never make a break.” Though Big Tom had waged a lifelong +warfare with the bears, and taken the hide off at least a hundred of +them, I could not see that he had any vindictive feeling towards the +varmint, but simply an insatiable love of killing him, and he regarded +him in that half-humorous light in which the bear always appears to +those who study him. As to deer--he couldn't tell how many of them he +had slain. But Big Tom was a gentleman: he never killed deer for mere +sport. With rattlesnakes, now, it was different. There was the skin of +one hanging upon a tree by the route we would take in the morning, +a buster, he skinned him yesterday. There was an entire absence, of +braggadocio in Big Tom's talk, but somehow, as he went on, his backwoods +figure loomed larger and larger in our imagination, and he seemed +strangely familiar. At length it came over us where we had met him +before. It was in Cooper's novels. He was the Leather-Stocking exactly. +And yet he was an original; for he assured us that he had never read the +Leather-Stocking Tales. What a figure, I was thinking, he must have +made in the late war! Such a shot, such a splendid physique, such +iron endurance! I almost dreaded to hear his tales of the havoc he had +wrought on the Union army. Yes, he was in the war, he was sixteen months +in the Confederate army, this Homeric man. In what rank? “Oh, I was a +fifer!” + +But hunting and war did not by any means occupy the whole of Big Tom's +life. He was also engaged in “lawin'.” He had a long-time feud with a +neighbor about a piece of land and alleged trespass, and they'd +been “lawin'” for years, with no definite result; but as a topic of +conversation it was as fully illustrative of frontier life as the +bear-fighting. + +Long after we had all gone to bed, we heard Big Tom's continuous voice, +through the thin partition that separated us from the kitchen, going on +to his little boy about the bear; every circumstance of how he tracked +him, and what corner of the field he entered, and where he went out, and +his probable size and age, and the prospect of his coming again; these +were the details of real everyday life, and worthy to be dwelt on by the +hour. The boy was never tired of pursuing them. And Big Tom was just a +big boy, also, in his delight in it all. + +Perhaps it was the fascination of Big Tom, perhaps the representation +that we were already way off the Big Ivy route, and that it would, in +fact, save time to go over the mountain and we could ride all the way, +that made the Professor acquiesce, with no protest worth noticing, in +the preparations that went on, as by a natural assumption, for going +over Mitchell. At any rate, there was an early breakfast, luncheon +was put up, and by half-past seven we were riding up the Caney,--a +half-cloudy day,--Big Tom swinging along on foot ahead, talking nineteen +to the dozen. There was a delightful freshness in the air, the dew-laden +bushes, and the smell of the forest. In half an hour we called at the +hunting shanty of Mr. Murchison, wrote our names on the wall, according +to custom, and regretted that we could not stay for a day in that +retreat and try the speckled trout. Making our way through the low +growth and bushes of the valley, we came into a fine open forest, +watered by a noisy brook, and after an hour's easy going reached the +serious ascent. + +From Wilson's to the peak of Mitchell it is seven and a half miles; we +made it in five and a half hours. A bridle path was cut years ago, but +it has been entirely neglected. It is badly washed, it is stony, muddy, +and great trees have fallen across it which wholly block the way for +horses. At these places long detours were necessary, on steep hillsides +and through gullies, over treacherous sink-holes in the rocks, through +quaggy places, heaps of brush, and rotten logs. Those who have ever +attempted to get horses over such ground will not wonder at the slow +progress we made. Before we were halfway up the ascent, we realized the +folly of attempting it on horseback; but then to go on seemed as easy as +to go back. The way was also exceedingly steep in places, and what with +roots, and logs, and slippery rocks and stones, it was a desperate climb +for the horses. + +What a magnificent forest! Oaks, chestnuts, Poplars, hemlocks, the +cucumber (a species of magnolia, with a pinkish, cucumber-like cone), +and all sorts of northern and southern growths meeting here in splendid +array. And this gigantic forest, with little diminution in size of +trees, continued two thirds of the way up. We marked, as we went on, the +maple, the black walnut, the buckeye, the hickory, the locust, and the +guide pointed out in one section the largest cherry-trees we had ever +seen; splendid trunks, each worth a large sum if it could be got to +market. After the great trees were left behind, we entered a garden of +white birches, and then a plateau of swamp, thick with raspberry bushes, +and finally the ridges, densely crowded with the funereal black balsam. + +Halfway up, Big Tom showed us his favorite, the biggest tree he knew. It +was a poplar, or tulip. It stands more like a column than a tree, rising +high into the air, with scarcely a perceptible taper, perhaps sixty, +more likely a hundred, feet before it puts out a limb. + +Its girth six feet from the ground is thirty-two feet! I think it might +be called Big Tom. It stood here, of course, a giant, when Columbus +sailed from Spain, and perhaps some sentimental traveler will attach the +name of Columbus to it. + +In the woods there was not much sign of animal life, scarcely the note +of a bird, but we noticed as we rode along in the otherwise primeval +silence a loud and continuous humming overhead, almost like the sound +of the wind in pine tops. It was the humming of bees! The upper branches +were alive with these industrious toilers, and Big Tom was always on the +alert to discover and mark a bee-gum, which he could visit afterwards. +Honey hunting is one of his occupations. Collecting spruce gum is +another, and he was continually hacking off with his hatchet knobs of +the translucent secretion. How rich and fragrant are these forests! The +rhododendron was still in occasional bloom' and flowers of brilliant hue +gleamed here and there. + +The struggle was more severe as we neared the summit, and the footing +worse for the horses. Occasionally it was safest to dismount and lead +them up slippery ascents; but this was also dangerous, for it was +difficult to keep them from treading on our heels, in their frantic +flounderings, in the steep, wet, narrow, brier-grown path. At one +uncommonly pokerish place, where the wet rock sloped into a bog, the +rider of Jack thought it prudent to dismount, but Big Tom insisted that +Jack would “make it” all right, only give him his head. The rider gave +him his head, and the next minute Jack's four heels were in the air, and +he came down on his side in a flash. The rider fortunately extricated +his leg without losing it, Jack scrambled out with a broken shoe, and +the two limped along. It was a wonder that the horses' legs were not +broken a dozen times. + +As we approached the top, Big Tom pointed out the direction, a half mile +away, of a small pond, a little mountain tarn, overlooked by a ledge of +rock, where Professor Mitchell lost his life. Big Tom was the guide +that found his body. That day, as we sat on the summit, he gave in great +detail the story, the general outline of which is well known. + +The first effort to measure the height of the Black Mountains was made +in 1835, by Professor Elisha Mitchell, professor of mathematics and +chemistry in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. +Mitchell was a native of Connecticut, born in Washington, Litchfield +County, in 1793; graduated at Yale, ordained a Presbyterian minister, +and was for a time state surveyor; and became a professor at Chapel +Hill in 1818. He first ascertained and published the fact that the Black +Mountains are the highest land east of the Rocky Mountains. In 1844 +he visited the locality again. Measurements were subsequently made by +Professor Guyot and by Senator Clingman. One of the peaks was named for +the senator (the one next in height to Mitchell is described as Clingman +on the state map), and a dispute arose as to whether Mitchell had really +visited and measured the highest peak. Senator Clingman still maintains +that he did not, and that the peak now known as Mitchell is the one that +Clingman first described. The estimates of altitudes made by the three +explorers named differed considerably. The height now fixed for Mount +Mitchell is 6711; that of Mount Washington is 6285. There are twelve +peaks in this range higher than Mount Washington, and if we add those +in the Great Smoky Mountains which overtop it, there are some twenty in +this State higher than the granite giant of New Hampshire. + +In order to verify his statement, Professor Mitchell (then in his +sixty-fourth year) made a third ascent in June, 1857. He was alone, and +went up from the Swannanoa side. He did not return. No anxiety was felt +for two or three days, as he was a good mountaineer, and it was supposed +he had crossed the mountain and made his way out by the Caney River. +But when several days passed without tidings of him, a search party was +formed. Big Tom Wilson was with it. They explored the mountain in all +directions unsuccessfully. At length Big Tom separated himself from his +companions and took a course in accordance with his notion of that which +would be pursued by a man lost in the clouds or the darkness. He +soon struck the trail of the wanderer, and, following it, discovered +Mitchell's body lying in a pool at the foot of a rocky precipice some +thirty feet high. It was evident that Mitchell, making his way along +the ridge in darkness or fog, had fallen off. It was the ninth (or the +eleventh) day of his disappearance, but in the pure mountain air the +body had suffered no change. Big Tom brought his companions to the +place, and on consultation it was decided to leave the body undisturbed +till Mitchell's friends could be present. + +There was some talk of burying him on the mountain, but the friends +decided otherwise, and the remains, with much difficulty, were got down +to Asheville and there interred. + +Some years afterwards, I believe at the instance of a society of +scientists, it was resolved to transport the body to the summit of Mount +Mitchell; for the tragic death of the explorer had forever settled in +the popular mind the name of the mountain. The task was not easy. A +road had to be cut, over which a sledge could be hauled, and the hardy +mountaineers who undertook the removal were three days in reaching the +summit with their burden. The remains were accompanied by a considerable +concourse, and the last rites on the top were participated in by a +hundred or more scientists and prominent men from different parts of +the State. Such a strange cortege had never before broken the silence +of this lonely wilderness, nor was ever burial more impressive than this +wild interment above the clouds. + +We had been preceded in our climb all the way by a huge bear. That he +was huge, a lunker, a monstrous old varmint, Big Tom knew by the size of +his tracks; that he was making the ascent that morning ahead of us, Big +Tom knew by the freshness of the trail. We might come upon him at any +moment; he might be in the garden; was quite likely to be found in the +raspberry patch. That we did not encounter him I am convinced was not +the fault of Big Tom, but of the bear. + +After a struggle of five hours we emerged from the balsams and briers +into a lovely open meadow, of lush clover, timothy, and blue grass. We +unsaddled the horses and turned them loose to feed in it. The meadow +sloped up to a belt of balsams and firs, a steep rocky knob, and +climbing that on foot we stood upon the summit of Mitchell at one +o'clock. We were none too soon, for already the clouds were preparing +for what appears to be a daily storm at this season. + +The summit is a nearly level spot of some thirty or forty feet in extent +either way, with a floor of rock and loose stones. The stunted balsams +have been cut away so as to give a view. The sweep of prospect is vast, +and we could see the whole horizon except in the direction of Roan, +whose long bulk was enveloped in cloud. Portions of six States were in +sight, we were told, but that is merely a geographical expression. What +we saw, wherever we looked, was an inextricable tumble of mountains, +without order or leading line of direction,--domes, peaks, ridges, +endless and countless, everywhere, some in shadow, some tipped with +shafts of sunlight, all wooded and green or black, and all in more +softened contours than our Northern hills, but still wild, lonesome, +terrible. Away in the southwest, lifting themselves up in a gleam of +the western sky, the Great Smoky Mountains loomed like a frowning +continental fortress, sullen and remote. With Clingman and Gibbs and +Holdback peaks near at hand and apparently of equal height, Mitchell +seemed only a part and not separate from the mighty congregation of +giants. + +In the center of the stony plot on the summit lie the remains of +Mitchell. To dig a grave in the rock was impracticable, but the loose +stones were scooped away to the depth of a foot or so, the body was +deposited, and the stones were replaced over it. It was the original +intention to erect a monument, but the enterprise of the projectors of +this royal entombment failed at that point. The grave is surrounded by +a low wall of loose stones, to which each visitor adds one, and in the +course of ages the cairn may grow to a good size. The explorer lies +there without name or headstone to mark his awful resting-place. The +mountain is his monument. He is alone with its majesty. He is there in +the clouds, in the tempests, where the lightnings play, and thunders +leap, amid the elemental tumult, in the occasional great calm and +silence and the pale sunlight. It is the most majestic, the most +lonesome grave on earth. + +As we sat there, awed a little by this presence, the clouds were +gathering from various quarters and drifting towards us. We could watch +the process of thunder-storms and the manufacture of tempests. I have +often noticed on other high mountains how the clouds, forming like genii +released from the earth, mount into the upper air, and in masses of torn +fragments of mist hurry across the sky as to a rendezvous of witches. +This was a different display. These clouds came slowly sailing from the +distant horizon, like ships on an aerial voyage. Some were below us, +some on our level; they were all in well-defined, distinct masses, +molten silver on deck, below trailing rain, and attended on earth +by gigantic shadows that moved with them. This strange fleet of +battle-ships, drifted by the shifting currents, was maneuvering for an +engagement. One after another, as they came into range about our peak +of observation, they opened fire. Sharp flashes of lightning darted from +one to the other; a jet of flame from one leaped across the interval +and was buried in the bosom of its adversary; and at every discharge the +boom of great guns echoed through the mountains. It was something more +than a royal salute to the tomb of the mortal at our feet, for the +masses of cloud were rent in the fray, at every discharge the rain +was precipitated in increasing torrents, and soon the vast hulks were +trailing torn fragments and wreaths of mist, like the shot-away shrouds +and sails of ships in battle. Gradually, from this long-range practice +with single guns and exchange of broadsides, they drifted into +closer conflict, rushed together, and we lost sight of the individual +combatants in the general tumult of this aerial war. + +We had barely twenty minutes for our observations, when it was time +to go; and had scarcely left the peak when the clouds enveloped it. We +hastened down under the threatening sky to the saddles and the luncheon. +Just off from the summit, amid the rocks, is a complete arbor, or +tunnel, of rhododendrons. This cavernous place a Western writer has made +the scene of a desperate encounter between Big Tom and a catamount, or +American panther, which had been caught in a trap and dragged it there, +pursued by Wilson. It is an exceedingly graphic narrative, and is +enlivened by the statement that Big Tom had the night before drunk up +all the whisky of the party which had spent the night on the summit. Now +Big Tom assured us that the whisky part of the story was an invention; +he was not (which is true) in the habit of using it; if he ever did take +any, it might be a drop on Mitchell; in fact, when he inquired if we +had a flask, he remarked that a taste of it would do him good then and +there. We regretted the lack of it in our baggage. But what inclined Big +Tom to discredit the Western writer's story altogether was the fact that +he never in his life had had a difficulty with a catamount, and never +had seen one in these mountains. + +Our lunch was eaten in haste. Big Tom refused the chicken he had +provided for us, and strengthened himself with slices of raw salt pork, +which he cut from a hunk with his clasp-knife. We caught and saddled our +horses, who were reluctant to leave the rich feed, enveloped ourselves +in waterproofs, and got into the stony path for the descent just as the +torrent came down. It did rain. It lightened, the thunder crashed, the +wind howled and twisted the treetops. It was as if we were pursued by +the avenging spirits of the mountains for our intrusion. Such a tempest +on this height had its terrors even for our hardy guide. He preferred to +be lower down while it was going on. The crash and reverberation of the +thunder did not trouble us so much as the swish of the wet branches in +our faces and the horrible road, with its mud, tripping roots, loose +stones, and slippery rocks. Progress was slow. The horses were in +momentary danger of breaking their legs. In the first hour there was not +much descent. In the clouds we were passing over Clingman, Gibbs, and +Holdback. The rain had ceased, but the mist still shut off all view, if +any had been attainable, and bushes and paths were deluged. The descent +was more uncomfortable than the ascent, and we were compelled a good +deal of the way to lead the jaded horses down the slippery rocks. + +From the peak to the Widow Patten's, where we proposed to pass the +night, is twelve miles, a distance we rode or scrambled down, every step +of the road bad, in five and a half hours. Halfway down we came out upon +a cleared place, a farm, with fruit-trees and a house in ruins. Here had +been a summer hotel much resorted to before the war, but now abandoned. +Above it we turned aside for the view from Elizabeth rock, named from +the daughter of the proprietor of the hotel, who often sat here, said +Big Tom, before she went out of this world. It is a bold rocky ledge, +and the view from it, looking south, is unquestionably the finest, the +most pleasing and picture-like, we found in these mountains. In the +foreground is the deep gorge of a branch of the Swannanoa, and opposite +is the great wall of the Blue Ridge (the Blue Ridge is the most +capricious and inexplicable system) making off to the Blacks. The depth +of the gorge, the sweep of the sky line, and the reposeful aspect of the +scene to the sunny south made this view both grand and charming. +Nature does not always put the needed dash of poetry into her extensive +prospects. + +Leaving this clearing and the now neglected spring, where fashion used +to slake its thirst, we zigzagged down the mountain-side through a +forest of trees growing at every step larger and nobler, and at length +struck a small stream, the North Fork of the Swannanoa, which led us to +the first settlement. Just at night,--it was nearly seven o'clock,--we +entered one of the most stately forests I have ever seen, and rode for +some distance in an alley of rhododendrons that arched overhead and made +a bower. It was like an aisle in a temple; high overhead was the somber, +leafy roof, supported by gigantic columns. Few widows have such an +avenue of approach to their domain as the Widow Patten has. + +Cheering as this outcome was from the day's struggle and storm, the +Professor seemed sunk in a profound sadness. The auguries which the +Friend drew from these signs of civilization of a charming inn and a +royal supper did not lighten the melancholy of his mind. “Alas,” he +said, + + “Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, + And make me travel forth without my cloak, + To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way, + Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke? + 'T is not enough that through the cloud thou break, + To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, + For no man well of such a salve can speak + That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace: + Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief: + Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.” + +“Loss of what?” cried the Friend, as he whipped up his halting steed. + +“Loss of self-respect. I feel humiliated that I consented to climb this +mountain.” + +“Nonsense! You'll live to thank me for it, as the best thing you ever +did. It's over and done now, and you've got it to tell your friends.” + +“That's just the trouble. They'll ask me if I went up Mitchell, and I +shall have to say I did. My character for consistency is gone. Not that +I care much what they think, but my own self-respect is gone. I never +believed I would do it. A man ca'nt afford to lower himself in his own +esteem, at my time of life.” + +The Widow Patten's was only an advanced settlement in this narrow valley +on the mountain-side, but a little group of buildings, a fence, and a +gate gave it the air of a place, and it had once been better cared +for than it is now. Few travelers pass that way, and the art of +entertaining, if it ever existed, is fallen into desuetude. We +unsaddled at the veranda, and sat down to review our adventure, make the +acquaintance of the family, and hear the last story from Big Tom. The +mountaineer, though wet, was as fresh as a daisy, and fatigue in no wise +checked the easy, cheerful flow of his talk. He was evidently a favorite +with his neighbors, and not unpleasantly conscious of the extent of +his reputation. But he encountered here another social grade. The Widow +Patten was highly connected. We were not long in discovering that she +was an Alexander. She had been a schoolmate of Senator Vance,--“Zeb +Vance” he still was to her,--and the senator and his wife had stayed at +her house. I wish I could say that the supper, for which we waited +till nine o'clock, was as “highly connected” as the landlady. It was, +however, a supper that left its memory. We were lodged in a detached +house, which we had to ourselves, where a roaring wood fire made amends +for other things lacking. It was necessary to close the doors to +keep out the wandering cows and pigs, and I am bound to say that, +notwithstanding the voices of the night, we slept there the sleep of +peace. + +In the morning a genuine surprise awaited us; it seemed impossible, but +the breakfast was many degrees worse than the supper; and when we paid +our bill, large for the region, we were consoled by the thought that we +paid for the high connection as well as for the accommodations. This +is a regular place of entertainment, and one is at liberty to praise it +without violation of delicacy. + +The broken shoe of Jack required attention, and we were all the morning +hunting a blacksmith, as we rode down the valley. Three blacksmith's +shanties were found, and after long waiting to send for the operator it +turned out in each case that he had no shoes, no nails, no iron to make +either of. We made a detour of three miles to what was represented as a +regular shop. The owner had secured the service of a colored blacksmith +for a special job, and was, not inclined to accommodate us; he had no +shoes, no nails. But the colored blacksmith, who appreciated the plight +we were in, offered to make a shoe, and to crib four nails from those he +had laid aside for a couple of mules; and after a good deal of delay, +we were enabled to go on. The incident shows, as well as anything, the +barrenness and shiftlessness of the region. A horseman with whom we rode +in the morning gave us a very low estimate of the trustworthiness of +the inhabitants. The valley is wild and very pretty all the way down to +Colonel Long's,--twelve miles,--but the wretched-looking people along +the way live in a wretched manner. + +Just before reaching Colonel Long's we forded the stream (here of +good size), the bridge having tumbled down, and encountered a party of +picnickers under the trees--signs of civilization; a railway station is +not far off. Colonel Long's is a typical Southern establishment: a white +house, or rather three houses, all of one story, built on to each other +as beehives are set in a row, all porches and galleries. No one at home +but the cook, a rotund, broad-faced woman, with a merry eye, whose very +appearance suggested good cooking and hospitality; the Missis and the +children had gone up to the river fishing; the Colonel was somewhere +about the place; always was away when he was wanted. Guess he'd take us +in, mighty fine man the Colonel; and she dispatched a child from a cabin +in the rear to hunt him up. The Colonel was a great friend of her folks +down to Greenville; they visited here. Law, no, she didn't live here. +Was just up here spending the summer, for her health. God-forsaken lot +of people up here, poor trash. She wouldn't stay here a day, but the +Colonel was a friend of her folks, the firstest folks in Greenville. +Nobody round here she could 'sociate with. She was a Presbyterian, the +folks round here mostly Baptists and Methodists. More style about the +Presbyterians. Married? No, she hoped not. She did n't want to support +no husband. Got 'nuff to do to take care of herself. That her little +girl? No; she'd only got one child, down to Greenville, just the +prettiest boy ever was, as white as anybody. How did she what? reconcile +this state of things with not being married and being a Presbyterian? +Sho! she liked to carry some religion along; it was mighty handy +occasionally, mebbe not all the time. Yes, indeed, she enjoyed her +religion. + +The Colonel appeared and gave us a most cordial welcome. The fat and +merry cook blustered around and prepared a good dinner, memorable for +its “light” bread, the first we had seen since Cranberry Forge. The +Colonel is in some sense a public man, having been a mail agent, and +a Republican. He showed us photographs and engravings of Northern +politicians, and had the air of a man who had been in Washington. This +was a fine country for any kind of fruit,--apples, grapes, pears; it +needed a little Northern enterprise to set things going. The travelers +were indebted to the Colonel for a delightful noonday rest, and with +regret declined his pressing invitation to pass the night with him. + +The ride down the Swannanoa to Asheville was pleasant, through a +cultivated region, over a good road. The Swannanoa is, however, a turbid +stream. In order to obtain the most impressive view of Asheville we +approached it by the way of Beaucatcher Hill, a sharp elevation a mile +west of the town. I suppose the name is a corruption of some descriptive +French word, but it has long been a favorite resort of the frequenters +of Asheville, and it may be traditional that it is a good place to catch +beaux. The summit is occupied by a handsome private residence, and from +this ridge the view, which has the merit of “bursting” upon the traveler +as he comes over the hill, is captivating in its extent and variety. The +pretty town of Asheville is seen to cover a number of elevations gently +rising out of the valley, and the valley, a rich agricultural region, +well watered and fruitful, is completely inclosed by picturesque hills, +some of them rising to the dignity of mountains. The most conspicuous +of these is Mount Pisgah, eighteen miles distant to the southwest, a +pyramid of the Balsam range, 5757 feet high. Mount Pisgah, from its +shape, is the most attractive mountain in this region. + +The sunset light was falling upon the splendid panorama and softening +it. The windows of the town gleamed as if on fire. From the steep slope +below came the mingled sounds of children shouting, cattle driven home, +and all that hum of life that marks a thickly peopled region preparing +for the night. It was the leisure hour of an August afternoon, and +Asheville was in all its watering-place gayety, as we reined up at +the Swannanoa hotel. A band was playing on the balcony. We had reached +ice-water, barbers, waiters, civilization. + + + + +IV + +Ashville, delightful for situation, on small hills that rise above +the French Broad below its confluence with the Swannanoa, is a sort of +fourteenth cousin to Saratoga. It has no springs, but lying 2250 +feet above the sea and in a lovely valley, mountain girt, it has pure +atmosphere and an equable climate; and being both a summer and winter +resort, it has acquired a watering-place air. There are Southerners who +declare that it is too hot in summer, and that the complete circuit of +mountains shuts out any lively movement of air. But the scenery is so +charming and noble, the drives are so varied, the roads so unusually +passable for a Southern country, and the facilities for excursions so +good, that Asheville is a favorite resort. + +Architecturally the place is not remarkable, but its surface is +so irregular, there are so many acclivities and deep valleys that +improvements can never obliterate, that it is perforce picturesque. It +is interesting also, if not pleasing, in its contrasts--the enterprise +of taste and money-making struggling with the laissez faire of the +South. The negro, I suppose, must be regarded as a conservative element; +he has not much inclination to change his clothes or his cabin, and his +swarming presence gives a ragged aspect to the new civilization. And +to say the truth, the new element of Southern smartness lacks the +trim thrift the North is familiar with; though the visitor who needs +relaxation is not disposed to quarrel with the easy-going terms on which +life is taken. + +Asheville, it is needless to say, appeared very gay and stimulating to +the riders from the wilderness. The Professor, who does not even pretend +to patronize Nature, had his revenge as we strolled about the streets +(there is but one of much consideration), immensely entertained by the +picturesque contrasts. There was more life and amusement here in +five minutes, he declared, than in five days of what people called +scenery--the present rage for scenery, anyway, being only a fashion and +a modern invention. The Friend suspected from this penchant for the city +that the Professor must have been brought up in the country. + +There was a kind of predetermined and willful gayety about Asheville +however, that is apt to be present in a watering-place, and gave to it +the melancholy tone that is always present in gay places. We fancied +that the lively movement in the streets had an air of unreality. A band +of musicians on the balcony of the Swannanoa were scraping and tooting +and twanging with a hired air, and on the opposite balcony of the Eagle +a rival band echoed and redoubled the perfunctory joyousness. The gayety +was contagious: the horses felt it; those that carried light burdens +of beauty minced and pranced, the pony in the dog-cart was inclined to +dash, the few passing equipages had an air of pleasure; and the people +of color, the comely waitress and the slouching corner-loafer, responded +to the animation of the festive strains. In the late afternoon the +streets were full of people, wagons, carriages, horsemen, all with a +holiday air, dashed with African color and humor--the irresponsibility +of the most insouciant and humorous race in the world, perhaps more +comical than humorous; a mixture of recent civilization and rudeness, +peculiar and amusing; a happy coming together, it seemed, of Southern +abandon and Northern wealth, though the North was little represented at +this season. + +As evening came on, the streets, though wanting gas, were still more +animated; the shops were open, some very good ones, and the white +and black throng increasing, especially the black, for the negro is +preeminently a night bird. In the hotels dancing was promised--the +german was announced; on the galleries and in the corridors were +groups of young people, a little loud in manner and voice,--the young +gentleman, with his over-elaborate manner to ladies in bowing and +hat-lifting, and the blooming girls from the lesser Southern cities, +with the slight provincial note, and yet with the frank and engaging +cordiality which is as charming as it is characteristic. I do not know +what led the Professor to query if the Southern young women were not +superior to the Southern young men, but he is always asking questions +nobody can answer. At the Swannanoa were half a dozen bridal couples, +readily recognizable by the perfect air they had of having been +married a long time. How interesting such young voyagers are, and how +interesting they are to each other! Columbus never discovered such a +large world as they have to find out and possess each in the other. + +Among the attractions of the evening it was difficult to choose. There +was a lawn-party advertised at Battery Point (where a fine hotel has +since been built) and we walked up to that round knob after dark. It is +a hill with a grove, which commands a charming view, and was fortified +during the war. We found it illuminated with Chinese lanterns; and +little tables set about under the trees, laden with cake and ice-cream, +offered a chance to the stranger to contribute money for the benefit +of the Presbyterian Church. I am afraid it was not a profitable +entertainment, for the men seemed to have business elsewhere, but the +ladies about the tables made charming groups in the lighted grove. Man +is a stupid animal at best, or he would not make it so difficult for the +womenkind to scrape together a little money for charitable purposes. +But probably the women like this method of raising money better than the +direct one. + +The evening gayety of the town was well distributed. When we descended +to the Court-House Square, a great crowd had collected, black, white, +and yellow, about a high platform, upon which four glaring torches +lighted up the novel scene, and those who could read might decipher this +legend on a standard at the back of the stage: + + HAPPY JOHN. + ONE OF THE SLAVES OF WADE HAMPTON. + COME AND SEE HIM! + +Happy John, who occupied the platform with Mary, a “bright” yellow girl, +took the comical view of his race, which was greatly enjoyed by his +audience. His face was blackened to the proper color of the stage-darky, +and he wore a flaming suit of calico, the trousers and coat striped +longitudinally according to Punch's idea of “Uncle Sam,” the coat a +swallow-tail bound and faced with scarlet, and a bell-crowned white +hat. This conceit of a colored Yankee seemed to tickle all colors in +the audience amazingly. Mary, the “bright” woman (this is the universal +designation of the light mulatto), was a pleasing but bold yellow girl, +who wore a natty cap trimmed with scarlet, and had the assured or pert +manner of all traveling sawdust performers. + +“Oh, yes,” exclaimed a bright woman in the crowd, “Happy John was sure +enough one of Wade Hampton's slaves, and he's right good looking when +he's not blackened up.” + +Happy John sustained the promise of his name by spontaneous gayety and +enjoyment of the fleeting moment; he had a glib tongue and a ready, rude +wit, and talked to his audience with a delicious mingling of impudence, +deference, and patronage, commenting upon them generally, administering +advice and correction in a strain of humor that kept his hearers in a +pleased excitement. He handled the banjo and the guitar alternately, +and talked all the time when he was not singing. Mary (how much harder +featured and brazen a woman is in such a position than a man of the +same caliber!) sang, in an untutored treble, songs of sentiment, often +risque, in solo and in company with John, but with a cold, indifferent +air, in contrast to the rollicking enjoyment of her comrade. + +The favorite song, which the crowd compelled her to repeat, touched +lightly the uncertainties of love, expressed in the falsetto pathetic +refrain: + + “Mary's gone away wid de coon.” + +All this, with the moon, the soft summer night, the mixed crowd of +darkies and whites, the stump eloquence of Happy John, the singing, the +laughter, the flaring torches, made a wild scene. The entertainment was +quite free, with a “collection” occasionally during the performance. + +What most impressed us, however, was the turning to account by Happy +John of the “nigger” side of the black man as a means of low comedy, +and the enjoyment of it by all the people of color. They appeared to +appreciate as highly as anybody the comic element in themselves, +and Happy John had emphasized it by deepening his natural color and +exaggerating the “nigger” peculiarities. I presume none of them analyzed +the nature of his infectious gayety, nor thought of the pathos that lay +so close to it, in the fact of his recent slavery, and the distinction +of being one of Wade Hampton's niggers, and the melancholy mirth of this +light-hearted race's burlesque of itself. + +A performance followed which called forth the appreciation of the crowd +more than the wit of Happy John or the faded songs of the yellow girl. +John took two sweet-cakes and broke each in fine pieces into a saucer, +and after sugaring and eulogizing the dry messes, called for two small +darky volunteers from the audience to come up on the platform and devour +them. He offered a prize of fifteen cents to the one who should first +eat the contents of his dish, not using his hands, and hold up the +saucer empty in token of his victory. The cake was tempting, and the +fifteen cents irresistible, and a couple of boys in ragged shirts and +short trousers and a suspender apiece came up shamefacedly to enter for +the prize. Each one grasped his saucer in both hands, and with face over +the dish awaited the word “go,” which John gave, and started off the +contest with a banjo accompaniment. To pick up with the mouth the dry +cake and choke it down was not so easy as the boys apprehended, but they +went into the task with all their might, gobbling and swallowing as +if they loved cake, occasionally rolling an eye to the saucer of the +contestant to see the relative progress, John strumming, ironically +encouraging, and the crowd roaring. As the combat deepened and the +contestants strangled and stuffed and sputtered, the crowd went into +spasms of laughter. The smallest boy won by a few seconds, holding up +his empty saucer, with mouth stuffed, vigorously trying to swallow, like +a chicken with his throat clogged with dry meal, and utterly unable to +speak. The impartial John praised the victor in mock heroics, but said +that the trial was so even that he would divide the prize, ten cents to +one and five to the other--a stroke of justice that greatly increased +his popularity. And then he dismissed the assembly, saying that he had +promised the mayor to do so early, because he did not wish to run an +opposition to the political meeting going on in the courthouse. + +The scene in the large court-room was less animated than that out-doors; +a half-dozen tallow dips, hung on the wall in sconces and stuck on the +judge's long desk, feebly illuminated the mixed crowd of black and white +who sat in, and on the backs of, the benches, and cast only a fitful +light upon the orator, who paced back and forth and pounded the rail. +It was to have been a joint discussion between the two presidential +electors running in that district, but, the Republican being absent, his +place was taken by a young man of the town. The Democratic orator took +advantage of the absence of his opponent to describe the discussion +of the night before, and to give a portrait of his adversary. He was +represented as a cross between a baboon and a jackass, who would be a +natural curiosity for Barnum. “I intend,” said the orator, “to put +him in a cage and exhibit him about the deestrict.” This political hit +called forth great applause. All his arguments were of this pointed +character, and they appeared to be unanswerable. The orator appeared +to prove that there wasn't a respectable man in the opposite party who +wasn't an office-holder, nor a white man of any kind in it who was not +an office-holder. If there were any issues or principles in the canvass, +he paid his audience the compliment of knowing all about them, for he +never alluded to any. In another state of society, such a speech of +personalities might have led to subsequent shootings, but no doubt his +adversary would pay him in the same coin when next they met, and +the exhibition seemed to be regarded down here as satisfactory and +enlightened political canvassing for votes. The speaker who replied, +opened his address with a noble tribute to woman (as the first speaker +had ended his), directed to a dozen of that sex who sat in the gloom of +a corner. The young man was moderate in his sarcasm, and attempted to +speak of national issues, but the crowd had small relish for that sort +of thing. At eleven o'clock, when we got away from the unsavory room +(more than half the candles had gone out), the orator was making slow +headway against the refished blackguardism of the evening. The german +was still “on” at the hotel when we ascended to our chamber, satisfied +that Asheville was a lively town. + +The sojourner at Asheville can amuse himself very well by walking or +driving to the many picturesque points of view about the town; livery +stables abound, and the roads are good. The Beau-catcher Hill is always +attractive; and Connolly's, a private place a couple of miles from +town, is ideally situated, being on a slight elevation in the valley, +commanding the entire circuit of mountains, for it has the air of repose +which is so seldom experienced in the location of a dwelling in America +whence an extensive prospect is given. Or if the visitor is disinclined +to exertion, he may lounge in the rooms of the hospitable Asheville +Club; or he may sit on the sidewalk in front of the hotels, and talk +with the colonels and judges and generals and ex-members of Congress, +the talk generally drifting to the new commercial and industrial life +of the South, and only to politics as it affects these; and he will be +pleased, if the conversation takes a reminiscent turn, with the lack of +bitterness and the tone of friendliness. The negro problem is commonly +discussed philosophically and without heat, but there is always +discovered, underneath, the determination that the negro shall never +again get the legislative upper hand. And the gentleman from South +Carolina who has an upland farm, and is heartily glad slavery is +gone, and wants the negro educated, when it comes to ascendency in +politics--such as the State once experienced--asks you what you would +do yourself. This is not the place to enter upon the politico-social +question, but the writer may note one impression gathered from much +friendly and agreeable conversation. It is that the Southern whites +misapprehend and make a scarecrow of “social equality.” When, during the +war, it was a question at the North of giving the colored people of the +Northern States the ballot, the argument against it used to be stated +in the form of a question: “Do you want your daughter to marry a negro?” + Well, the negro has his political rights in the North, and there has +come no change in the social conditions whatever. And there is no doubt +that the social conditions would remain exactly as they are at the South +if the negro enjoyed all the civil rights which the Constitution tries +to give him. The most sensible view of this whole question was taken by +an intelligent colored man, whose brother was formerly a representative +in Congress. “Social equality,” he said in effect, “is a humbug. We do +not expect it, we do not want it. It does not exist among the blacks +themselves. We have our own social degrees, and choose our own +associates. We simply want the ordinary civil rights, under which we +can live and make our way in peace and amity. This is necessary to our +self-respect, and if we have not self-respect, it is not to be supposed +that the race can improve. I'll tell you what I mean. My wife is a +modest, intelligent woman, of good manners, and she is always neat, +and tastefully dressed. Now, if she goes to take the cars, she is not +permitted to go into a clean car with decent people, but is ordered into +one that is repellent, and is forced into company that any refined woman +would shrink from. But along comes a flauntingly dressed woman, of known +disreputable character, whom my wife would be disgraced to know, and +she takes any place that money will buy. It is this sort of thing that +hurts.” + +We took the eastern train one evening to Round Nob (Henry's Station), +some thirty miles, in order to see the wonderful railway that descends, +a distance of eight miles, from the summit of Swannanoa Gap (2657 feet +elevation) to Round Nob Hotel (1607 feet). The Swannanoa Summit is the +dividing line between the waters that flow to the Atlantic and those +that go to the Gulf of Mexico. This fact was impressed upon us by the +inhabitants, who derive a good deal of comfort from it. Such divides are +always matter of local pride. Unfortunately, perhaps, it was too dark +before we reached Henry's to enable us to see the road in all its loops +and parallels as it appears on the map, but we gained a better effect. +The hotel, when we first sighted it, all its windows blazing with light, +was at the bottom of a well. Beside it--it was sufficiently light to see +that--a column of water sprang straight into the air to the height, as +we learned afterwards from two official sources, of 225 and 265 feet; +and the information was added that it is the highest fountain in the +world. This stout column, stiff as a flagstaff, with its feathery head +of mist gleaming like silver in the failing light, had the most charming +effect. We passed out of sight of hotel and fountain, but were conscious +of being--whirled on a circular descending grade, and very soon they +were in sight again. Again and again they disappeared and came to view, +now on one side and now on the other, until our train seemed to be +bewitched, making frantic efforts by dodgings and turnings, now through +tunnels and now over high pieces of trestle, to escape the inevitable +attraction that was gravitating it down to the hospitable lights at the +bottom of the well. When we climbed back up the road in the morning, we +had an opportunity to see the marvelous engineering, but there is little +else to see, the view being nearly always very limited. + +The hotel at the bottom of the ravine, on the side of Round Nob, offers +little in the way of prospect, but it is a picturesque place, and we +could understand why it was full of visitors when we came to the table. +It was probably the best-kept house of entertainment in the State, +and being in the midst of the Black Hills, it offers good chances for +fishing and mountain climbing. + +In the morning the fountain, which is, of course, artificial, refused +to play, the rain in the night having washed in debris which clogged the +conduit. But it soon freed itself and sent up for a long time, like +a sulky geyser, mud and foul water. When it got freedom and tolerable +clearness, we noted that the water went up in pulsations, which were +marked at short distances by the water falling off, giving the column +the appearance of a spine. The summit, always beating the air in efforts +to rise higher, fell over in a veil of mist. + +There are certain excursions that the sojourner at Asheville must make. +He must ride forty-five miles south through Henderson and Transylvania +to Caesar's Head, on the South Carolina border, where the mountain +system abruptly breaks down into the vast southern plain; where the +observer, standing on the edge of the precipice, has behind him and +before him the greatest contrast that nature can offer. He must also +take the rail to Waynesville, and visit the much-frequented White +Sulphur Springs, among the Balsam Mountains, and penetrate the Great +Smoky range by way of Quallatown, and make the acquaintance of the +remnant of Cherokee Indians living on the north slope of Cheoah +Mountain. The Professor could have made it a matter of personal merit +that he escaped all these encounters with wild and picturesque nature, +if his horse had not been too disabled for such long jaunts. It is only +necessary, however, to explain to the public that the travelers are not +gormandizers of scenery, and were willing to leave some portions of the +State to the curiosity of future excursionists. + +But so much was said about Hickory Nut Gap that a visit to it could not +be evaded. The Gap is about twenty-four miles southeast of Asheville. In +the opinion of a well-informed colonel, who urged us to make the trip, +it is the finest piece of scenery it this region. We were brought up on +the precept “get the best,” and it was with high anticipations that we +set out about eleven o'clock one warm, foggy morning. We followed a very +good road through a broken, pleasant country, gradually growing wilder +and less cultivated. There was heavy rain most of the day on the hills, +and occasionally a shower swept across our path. The conspicuous object +toward which we traveled all the morning was a shapely conical hill at +the beginning of the Gap. + +At three o'clock we stopped at the Widow Sherrill's for dinner. Her +house, only about a mile from the summit, is most picturesquely situated +on a rough slope, giving a wide valley and mountain view. The house +is old rambling, many-roomed, with wide galleries on two sides. If +one wanted a retired retreat for a few days, with good air and fair +entertainment, this could be commended. It is an excellent fruit region; +apples especially are sound and of good flavor. That may be said of all +this part of the State. The climate is adapted to apples, as the hilly +part of New England is. I fancy the fruit ripens slowly, as it does in +New England, and is not subject to quick decay like much of that grown +in the West. But the grape also can be grown in all this mountain +region. Nothing but lack of enterprise prevents any farmer from enjoying +abundance of fruit. The industry carried on at the moment at the Widow +Sherrill's was the artificial drying of apples for the market. The +apples are pared, cored, and sliced in spirals, by machinery, and +dried on tin sheets in a patented machine. The industry appears to be a +profitable one hereabouts, and is about the only one that calls in the +aid of invention. + +While our dinner was preparing, we studied the well-known pictures of +“Jane” and “Eliza,” the photographs of Confederate boys, who had +never returned from the war, and the relations, whom the traveling +photographers always like to pillory in melancholy couples, and some +stray volumes of the Sunday-school Union. Madame Sherrill, who carries +on the farm since the death of her husband, is a woman of strong and +liberal mind, who informed us that she got small comfort in the churches +in the neighborhood, and gave us, in fact, a discouraging account of the +unvital piety of the region. + +The descent from the summit of the Gap to Judge Logan's, nine miles, is +rapid, and the road is wild and occasionally picturesque, following +the Broad River, a small stream when we first overtook it, but roaring, +rocky, and muddy, owing to frequent rains, and now and then tumbling +down in rapids. The noisy stream made the ride animated, and an +occasional cabin, a poor farmhouse, a mill, a schoolhouse, a store +with an assemblage of lean horses tied to the hitching rails, gave the +Professor opportunity for remarks upon the value of life under such +circumstances. + +The valley which we followed down probably owes its celebrity to +the uncommon phenomena of occasional naked rocks and precipices. The +inclosing mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and generally +wooded. I do not think that the ravine would be famous in a country +where exposed ledges and buttressing walls of rock are common. It is +only by comparison with the local scenery that this is remarkable. About +a mile above judge Logan's we caught sight, through the trees, of the +famous waterfall. From the top of the high ridge on the right, a nearly +perpendicular cascade pours over the ledge of rocks and is lost in the +forest. We could see nearly the whole of it, at a great height above us, +on the opposite side of the river, and it would require an hour's stiff +climb to reach its foot. From where we viewed it, it seemed a slender +and not very important, but certainly a very beautiful cascade, a band +of silver in the mass of green foliage. The fall is said to be 1400 +feet. Our colonel insists that it is a thousand. It may be, but the +valley where we stood is at least at an elevation of 1300 feet; we could +not believe that the ridge over which the water pours is much higher +than 3000 feet, and the length of the fall certainly did not appear +to be a quarter of the height of the mountain from our point of +observation. But we had no desire to belittle this pretty cascade, +especially when we found that Judge Logan would regard a foot abated +from the 1400 as a personal grievance. Mr. Logan once performed the +functions of local judge, a Republican appointment, and he sits around +the premises now in the enjoyment of that past dignity and of the fact +that his wife is postmistress. His house of entertainment is at the +bottom of the valley, a place shut in, warm, damp, and not inviting to a +long stay, although the region boasts a good many natural curiosities. + +It was here that we encountered again the political current, out of +which we had been for a month. The Judge himself was reticent, as became +a public man, but he had conspicuously posted up a monster prospectus, +sent out from Augusta, of a campaign life of Blaine and Logan, in which +the Professor read, with shaking knees, this sentence: “Sure to be the +greatest and hottest [campaign and civil battle] ever known in this +world. The thunder of the supreme struggle and its reverberations will +shake the continents for months, and will be felt from Pole to Pole.” + +For this and other reasons this seemed a risky place to be in. There +was something sinister about the murky atmosphere, and a suspicion of +mosquitoes besides. Had there not been other travelers staying here, we +should have felt still more uneasy. The house faced Bald Mountain, 4000 +feet high, a hill that had a very bad reputation some years ago, and +was visited by newspaper reporters. This is, in fact, the famous Shaking +Mountain. For a long time it had a habit of trembling, as if in an +earthquake spasm, but with a shivering motion very different from that +produced by an earthquake. The only good that came of it was that it +frightened all the “moonshiners,” and caused them to join the church. It +is not reported what became of the church afterwards. It is believed now +that the trembling was caused by the cracking of a great ledge on the +mountain, which slowly parted asunder. Bald Mountain is the scene of +Mrs. Burnett's delightful story of “Louisiana,” and of the play of +“Esmeralda.” A rock is pointed out toward the summit, which the beholder +is asked to see resembles a hut, and which is called “Esmeralda's +Cottage.” But this attractive maiden has departed, and we did +not discover any woman in the region who remotely answers to her +description. + +In the morning we rode a mile and a half through the woods and followed +up a small stream to see the celebrated pools, one of which the Judge +said was two hundred feet deep, and another bottomless. These pools, not +round, but on one side circular excavations, some twenty feet across, +worn in the rock by pebbles, are very good specimens, and perhaps +remarkable specimens, of “pot-holes.” They are, however, regarded here +as one of the wonders of the world. On the way to them we saw beautiful +wild trumpet-creepers in blossom, festooning the trees. + +The stream that originates in Hickory Nut Gap is the westernmost +branch of several forks of the Broad, which unite to the southeast in +Rutherford County, flow to Columbia, and reach the Atlantic through the +channel of the Santee. It is not to be confounded with the French Broad, +which originates among the hills of Transylvania, runs northward past +Asheville, and finds its way to the Tennessee through the Warm Springs +Gap in the Bald Mountains. As the French claimed ownership of all the +affluents of the Mississippi, this latter was called the French Broad. + +It was a great relief the next morning, on our return, to rise out of +the lifeless atmosphere of the Gap into the invigorating air at the +Widow Sherrill's, whose country-seat is three hundred feet higher than +Asheville. It was a day of heavy showers, and apparently of leisure to +the scattered population; at every store and mill was a congregation of +loafers, who had hitched their scrawny horses and mules to the fences, +and had the professional air of the idler and gossip the world over. The +vehicles met on the road were a variety of the prairie schooner, long +wagons with a top of hoops over which is stretched a cotton cloth. The +wagons are without seats, and the canvas is too low to admit of sitting +upright, if there were. The occupants crawl in at either end, sit or +lie on the bottom of the wagon, and jolt along in shiftless +uncomfortableness. + +Riding down the French Broad was one of the original objects of our +journey. Travelers with the same intention may be warned that the route +on horseback is impracticable. The distance to the Warm Springs is +thirty-seven miles; to Marshall, more than halfway, the road is clear, +as it runs on the opposite side of the river from the railway, and the +valley is something more than river and rails. But below Marshall the +valley contracts, and the rails are laid a good portion of the way in +the old stage road. One can walk the track, but to ride a horse over its +sleepers and culverts and occasional bridges, and dodge the trains, +is neither safe nor agreeable. We sent our horses round--the messenger +taking the risk of leading them, between trains, over the last six or +eight miles,--and took the train. + +The railway, after crossing a mile or two of meadows, hugs the river +all the way. The scenery is the reverse of bold. The hills are low, +monotonous in form, and the stream winds through them, with many a +pretty turn and “reach,” with scarcely a ribbon of room to spare on +either side. The river is shallow, rapid, stony, muddy, full of rocks, +with an occasional little island covered with low bushes. The rock seems +to be a clay formation, rotten and colored. As we approach Warm Springs +the scenery becomes a little bolder, and we emerge into the open space +about the Springs through a narrower defile, guarded by rocks that are +really picturesque in color and splintered decay, one of them being +known, of course, as the “Lover's Leap,” a name common in every part +of the modern or ancient world where there is a settlement near a +precipice, with always the same legend attached to it. + +There is a little village at Warm Springs, but the hotel--since burned +and rebuilt--(which may be briefly described as a palatial shanty) +stands by itself close to the river, which is here a deep, rapid, turbid +stream. A bridge once connected it with the road on the opposite bank, +but it was carried away three or four years ago, and its ragged butments +stand as a monument of procrastination, while the stream is crossed by +means of a flatboat and a cable. In front of the hotel, on the slight +slope to the river, is a meager grove of locusts. The famous spring, +close to-the stream, is marked only by a rough box of wood and an +iron pipe, and the water, which has a temperature of about one hundred +degrees, runs to a shabby bath-house below, in which is a pool for +bathing. The bath is very agreeable, the tepid water being singularly +soft and pleasant. It has a slightly sulphurous taste. Its good effects +are much certified. The grounds, which might be very pretty with care, +are ill-kept and slatternly, strewn with debris, as if everything was +left to the easy-going nature of the servants. The main house is +of brick, with verandas and galleries all round, and a colonnade +of thirteen huge brick and stucco columns, in honor of the thirteen +States,--a relic of post-Revolutionary times, when the house was the +resort of Southern fashion and romance. These columns have stood through +one fire, and perhaps the recent one, which swept away the rest of +the structure. The house is extended in a long wooden edifice, with +galleries and outside stairs, the whole front being nearly seven hundred +feet long. In a rear building is a vast, barrack-like dining-room, with +a noble ball-room above, for dancing is the important occupation of +visitors. + +The situation is very pretty, and the establishment has a +picturesqueness of its own. Even the ugly little brick structure near +the bath-house imposes upon one as Wade Hampton's cottage. No doubt +we liked the place better than if it had been smart, and enjoyed the +neglige condition, and the easy terms on which life is taken there. +There was a sense of abundance in the sight of fowls tiptoeing about the +verandas, and to meet a chicken in the parlor was a sort of guarantee +that we should meet him later on in the dining-room. There was nothing +incongruous in the presence of pigs, turkeys, and chickens on the +grounds; they went along with the good-natured negro-service and the +general hospitality; and we had a mental rest in the thought that all +the gates would have been off the hinges, if there had been any gates. +The guests were very well treated indeed, and were put under no sort of +restraint by discipline. The long colonnade made an admirable promenade +and lounging-place and point of observation. It was interesting to watch +the groups under the locusts, to see the management of the ferry, the +mounting and dismounting of the riding-parties, and to study the colors +on the steep hill opposite, halfway up which was a neat cottage and +flower-garden. The type of people was very pleasantly Southern. Colonels +and politicians stand in groups and tell stories, which are followed by +explosions of laughter; retire occasionally into the saloon, and come +forth reminded of more stories, and all lift their hats elaborately and +suspend the narratives when a lady goes past. A company of soldiers from +Richmond had pitched its tents near the hotel, and in the evening the +ball-room was enlivened with uniforms. Among the graceful dancers--and +every one danced well, and with spirit was pointed out the young widow +of a son of Andrew Johnson, whose pretty cottage overlooks the village. +But the Professor, to whom this information was communicated, doubted +whether here it was not a greater distinction to be the daughter of the +owner of this region than to be connected with a President of the United +States. + +A certain air of romance and tradition hangs about the French Broad and +the Warm Springs, which the visitor must possess himself of in order to +appreciate either. This was the great highway of trade and travel. At +certain seasons there was an almost continuous procession of herds of +cattle and sheep passing to the Eastern markets, and of trains of big +wagons wending their way to the inviting lands watered by the Tennessee. +Here came in the summer-time the Southern planters in coach and four, +with a great retinue of household servants, and kept up for months that +unique social life, a mixture of courtly ceremony and entire freedom, +the civilization which had the drawing-room at one end and the +negro-quarters at the other,--which has passed away. It was a +continuation into our own restless era of the manners and the literature +of George the Third, with the accompanying humor and happy-go-lucky +decadence of the negro slaves. On our way down we saw on the river-bank, +under the trees, the old hostelry, Alexander's, still in decay,--an +attractive tavern, that was formerly one of the notable stopping-places +on the river. Master, and fine lady, and obsequious, larking darky, +and lumbering coach, and throng of pompous and gay life, have all +disappeared. There was no room in this valley for the old institutions +and for the iron track. + + “When in the chronicle of wasted time + I see descriptions of the fairest wights, + And beauty making beautiful old rhyme + In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, + We, which now behold these present days, + Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.” + +This perverted use of noble verse was all the response the Friend got +in his attempt to drop into the sentimental vein over the past of the +French Broad. + +The reader must not think there is no enterprise in this sedative and +idle resort. The conceited Yankee has to learn that it is not he alone +who can be accused of the thrift of craft. There is at the Warm Springs +a thriving mill for crushing and pulverizing barites, known vulgarly as +heavy-spar. It is the weight of this heaviest of minerals, and not +its lovely crystals, that gives it value. The rock is crushed, washed, +sorted out by hand, to remove the foreign substances, then ground and +subjected to acids, and at the end of the process it is as white and +fine as the best bolted flour. This heavy adulterant is shipped to the +North in large quantities,--the manager said he had recently an order +for a hundred thousand dollars' worth of it. What is the use of this +powder? Well, it is of use to the dealer who sells white lead for paint, +to increase the weight of the lead, and it is the belief hereabouts that +it is mixed with powdered sugar. The industry is profitable to those +engaged in it. + +It was impossible to get much information about our route into +Tennessee, except that we should go by Paint Rock, and cross +Paint Mountain. Late one morning,--a late start is inevitable +here,--accompanied by a cavalcade, we crossed the river by the rope +ferry, and trotted down the pretty road, elevated above the stream +and tree-shaded, offering always charming glimpses of swift water and +overhanging foliage (the railway obligingly taking the other side of the +river), to Paint Rock,--six miles. This Paint Rock is a naked precipice +by the roadside, perhaps sixty feet high, which has a large local +reputation. It is said that its face shows painting done by the Indians, +and hieroglyphics which nobody can read. On this bold, crumbling cliff, +innumerable visitors have written their names. We stared at it a good +while to discover the paint and hieroglyphics, but could see nothing +except iron stains. Round the corner is a farmhouse and place of call +for visitors, a neat cottage, with a display of shells and minerals and +flower-pots; and here we turned north crossed the little stream called +Paint River, the only clear water we had seen in a month, passed into +the State of Tennessee, and by a gentle ascent climbed Paint Mountain. +The open forest road, with the murmur of the stream below, was +delightfully exhilarating, and as we rose the prospect opened,--the +lovely valley below, Bald Mountains behind us, and the Butt Mountains +rising as we came over the ridge. + +Nobody on the way, none of the frowzy women or unintelligent men, knew +anything of the route, or could give us any information of the country +beyond. But as we descended in Tennessee the country and the farms +decidedly improved,--apple-trees and a grapevine now and then. + +A ride of eight miles brought us to Waddle's, hungry and disposed +to receive hospitality. We passed by an old farm building to a new +two-storied, gayly painted house on a hill. We were deceived by +appearances. The new house, with a new couple in it, had nothing to +offer us except some buttermilk. Why should anybody be obliged to feed +roving strangers? As to our horses, the young woman with a baby in her +arms declared, + +“We've got nothing for stock but roughness; perhaps you can get +something at the other house.” + +“Roughness,” we found out at the other house, meant hay in this region. +We procured for the horses a light meal of green oats, and for our own +dinner we drank at the brook and the Professor produced a few sonnets. +On this sustaining repast we fared on nearly twelve miles farther, +through a rolling, good farming country, offering little for comment, +in search of a night's lodging with one of the brothers Snap. But one +brother declined our company on the plea that his wife was sick, and the +other because his wife lived in Greenville, and we found ourselves +as dusk came on without shelter in a tavernless land. Between the two +refusals we enjoyed the most picturesque bit of scenery of the day, at +the crossing of Camp Creek, a swift little stream, that swirled round +under the ledge of bold rocks before the ford. This we learned was a +favorite camp-meeting ground. Mary was calling the cattle home at the +farm of the second Snap. It was a very peaceful scene of rural life, and +we were inclined to tarry, but Mary, instead of calling us home with the +cattle, advised us to ride on to Alexander's before it got dark. + +It is proper to say that at Alexander's we began to see what this +pleasant and fruitful country might be, and will be, with thrift and +intelligent farming. Mr. Alexander is a well-to-do farmer, with plenty +of cattle and good barns (always an evidence of prosperity), who owes +his success to industry and an open mind to new ideas. He was a Unionist +during the war, and is a Democrat now, though his county (Greene) has +been Republican. We had been riding all the afternoon through good land, +and encountering a better class of farmers. Peach-trees abounded (though +this was an off year for fruit), and apples and grapes throve. It is +a land of honey and of milk. The persimmon flourishes; and, +sign of abundance generally, we believe, great flocks of +turkey-buzzards--majestic floaters in the high air--hovered about. +This country was ravaged during the war by Unionists and Confederates +alternately, the impartial patriots as they passed scooping in corn, +bacon, and good horses, leaving the farmers little to live on. Mr. +Alexander's farm cost him forty dollars an acre, and yields good crops +of wheat and maize. This was the first house on our journey where at +breakfast we had grace before meat, though there had been many tables +that needed it more. From the door the noble range of the Big Bald is in +sight and not distant; and our host said he had a shanty on it, to which +he was accustomed to go with his family for a month or six weeks in the +summer and enjoy a real primitive woods life. + +Refreshed by this little touch of civilization, and with horses well +fed, we rode on next morning towards Jonesboro, over a rolling, rather +unpicturesque country, but ennobled by the Big Bald and Butt ranges, +which we had on our right all day. At noon we crossed the Nollechucky +River at a ford where the water was up to the saddle girth, broad, +rapid, muddy, and with a treacherous stony bottom, and came to the +little hamlet of Boylesville, with a flour-mill, and a hospitable +old-fashioned house, where we found shelter from the heat of the hot +day, and where the daughters of the house, especially one pretty girl in +a short skirt and jaunty cap, contradicted the currently received +notion that this world is a weary pilgrimage. The big parlor, with its +photographs and stereoscope, and bits of shell and mineral, a piano and +a melodeon, and a coveted old sideboard of mahogany, recalled rural New +England. Perhaps these refinements are due to the Washington College (a +school for both sexes), which is near. We noted at the tables in this +region a singular use of the word fruit. When we were asked, Will you +have some of the fruit? and said Yes, we always got applesauce. + +Ten miles more in the late afternoon brought us to Jonesboro, the oldest +town in the State, a pretty place, with a flavor of antiquity, set +picturesquely on hills, with the great mountains in sight. People from +further South find this an agreeable summering place, and a fair hotel, +with odd galleries in front and rear, did not want company. The Warren +Institute for negroes has been flourishing here ever since the war. + +A ride of twenty miles next day carried us to Union. Before noon we +forded the Watauga, a stream not so large as the Nollechucky, and were +entertained at the big brick house of Mr. Devault, a prosperous and +hospitable farmer. This is a rich country. We had met in the morning +wagon-loads of watermelons and muskmelons, on the way to Jonesboro, and +Mr. Devault set abundance of these refreshing fruits before us as we +lounged on the porch before dinner. + +It was here that we made the acquaintance of a colored woman, a +withered, bent old pensioner of the house, whose industry (she excelled +any modern patent apple-parer) was unabated, although she was by her own +confession (a woman, we believe, never owns her age till she has passed +this point) and the testimony of others a hundred years old. But age +had not impaired the brightness of her eyes, nor the limberness of her +tongue, nor her shrewd good sense. She talked freely about the want of +decency and morality in the young colored folks of the present day. It +was n't so when she was a girl. Long, long time ago, she and her husband +had been sold at sheriff's sale and separated, and she never had another +husband. Not that she blamed her master so much he could n't help it; +he got in debt. And she expounded her philosophy about the rich, and the +danger they are in. The great trouble is that when a person is rich, he +can borrow money so easy, and he keeps drawin' it out of the bank and +pilin' up the debt, like rails on top of one another, till it needs a +ladder to get on to the pile, and then it all comes down in a heap, and +the man has to begin on the bottom rail again. If she'd to live her life +over again, she'd lay up money; never cared much about it till now. The +thrifty, shrewd old woman still walked about a good deal, and kept her +eye on the neighborhood. Going out that morning she had seen some fence +up the road that needed mending, and she told Mr. Devault that she +didn't like such shiftlessness; she didn't know as white folks was much +better than colored folks. Slavery? Yes, slavery was pretty bad--she had +seen five hundred niggers in handcuffs, all together in a field, sold to +be sent South. + +About six miles from here is a beech grove of historical interest, worth +a visit if we could have spared the time. In it is the large beech (six +and a half feet around six feet from the ground) on which Daniel Boone +shot a bear, when he was a rover in this region. He himself cut +an inscription on the tree recording his prowess, and it is still +distinctly legible: + + D. BOONE CILT A BAR ON THIS TREE, 1760. + +This tree is a place of pilgrimage, and names of people from all parts +of the country are cut on it, until there is scarcely room for any more +records of such devotion. The grove is ancient looking, the trees are +gnarled and moss-grown. Hundreds of people go there, and the trees are +carved all over with their immortal names. + +A pleasant ride over a rich rolling country, with an occasional strip of +forest, brought us to Union in the evening, with no other adventure than +the meeting of a steam threshing-machine in the road, with steam +up, clattering along. The devil himself could not invent any machine +calculated to act on the nerves of a horse like this. Jack took one look +and then dashed into the woods, scraping off his rider's hat but did not +succeed in getting rid of his burden or knocking down any trees. + +Union, on the railway, is the forlornest of little villages, with +some three hundred inhabitants and a forlorn hotel, kept by an +ex-stage-driver. The village, which lies on the Holston, has no +drinking-water in it nor enterprise enough to bring it in; not a well +nor a spring in its limits; and for drinking-water everybody crosses the +river to a spring on the other side. A considerable part of the labor +of the town is fetching water over the bridge. On a hill overlooking the +village is a big, pretentious brick house, with a tower, the furniture +of which is an object of wonder to those who have seen it. It belonged +to the late Mrs. Stover, daughter of Andrew Johnson. The whole family of +the ex-President have departed this world, but his memory is still green +in this region, where he was almost worshiped--so the people say in +speaking of him. + +Forlorn as was the hotel at Union, the landlord's daughters were +beginning to draw the lines in rural refinement. One of them had been at +school in Abingdon. Another, a mature young lady of fifteen, who waited +on the table, in the leisure after supper asked the Friend for a light +for her cigarette, which she had deftly rolled. + +“Why do you smoke?” + +“So as I shan't get into the habit of dipping. Do you think dipping is +nice?” + +The traveler was compelled to say that he did not, though he had seen a +good deal of it wherever he had been. + +“All the girls dips round here. But me and my sisters rather smoke than +get in a habit of dipping.” + +To the observation that Union seemed to be a dull place: + +“Well, there's gay times here in the winter--dancing. Like to dance? +Well, I should say! Last winter I went over to Blountsville to a dance +in the court-house; there was a trial between Union and Blountsville for +the best dancing. You bet I brought back the cake and the blue ribbon.” + +The country was becoming too sophisticated, and the travelers hastened +to the end of their journey. The next morning Bristol, at first over a +hilly country with magnificent oak-trees,--happily not girdled, as these +stately monarchs were often seen along the roads in North Carolina,--and +then up Beaver Creek, a turbid stream, turning some mills. When a closed +woolen factory was pointed out to the Professor (who was still traveling +for Reform), as the result of the agitation in Congress, he said, Yes, +the effect of agitation was evident in all the decayed dams and ancient +abandoned mills we had seen in the past month. + +Bristol is mainly one long street, with some good stores, but generally +shabby, and on this hot morning sleepy. One side of the street is in +Tennessee, the other in Virginia. How handy for fighting this would have +been in the war, if Tennessee had gone out and Virginia stayed in. At +the hotel--may a kind Providence wake it up to its responsibilities--we +had the pleasure of reading one of those facetious handbills which the +great railway companies of the West scatter about, the serious humor of +which is so pleasing to our English friends. This one was issued by the +accredited agents of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, and dated April +1, 1984. One sentence will suffice: + +“Allow us to thank our old traveling friends for the many favors in our +line, and if you are going on your bridal trip, or to see your girl out +West, drop in at the general office of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway +and we will fix you up in Queen Anne style. Passengers for Dakota, +Montana, or the Northwest will have an overcoat and sealskin cap thrown +in with all tickets sold on or after the above date.” + +The great republic cannot yet take itself seriously. Let us hope the +humors of it will last another generation. Meditating on this, we hailed +at sundown the spires of Abingdon, and regretted the end of a journey +that seems to have been undertaken for no purpose. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON HORSEBACK *** + +***** This file should be named 3126-0.txt or 3126-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/3126/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: On Horseback + +Author: Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: August 22, 2006 [EBook #3126] +Last Updated: February 24, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON HORSEBACK *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + ON HORSEBACK + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Charles Dudley Warner + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> I </a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> II </a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> III </a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> IV </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + I + </h2> + <p> + “The way to mount a horse”—said the Professor. + </p> + <p> + “If you have no ladder—put in the Friend of Humanity.” + </p> + <p> + The Professor had ridden through the war for the Union on the right side, + enjoying a much better view of it than if he had walked, and knew as much + about a horse as a person ought to know for the sake of his character. The + man who can recite the tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims, on horseback, + giving the contemporary pronunciation, never missing an accent by reason + of the trot, and at the same time witch North Carolina and a strip of East + Tennessee with his noble horsemanship, is a kind of Literary Centaur of + whose double instruction any Friend of Humanity may be glad to avail + himself. + </p> + <p> + “The way to mount a horse is to grasp the mane with the left hand holding + the bridle-rein, put your left foot in the stirrup, with the right hand on + the back of the saddle, and—-” + </p> + <p> + Just then the horse stepped quickly around on his hind feet, and looked + the Professor in the face. The Superintendents of Affairs, who occupy the + flagging in front of the hotel, seated in cane-bottomed chairs tilted + back, smiled. These useful persons appear to have a life-lease of this + portion of the city pavement, and pretty effectually block it up nearly + all day and evening. When a lady wishes to make her way through the + blockade, it is the habit of these observers of life to rise and make + room, touching their hats, while she picks her way through, and goes down + the street with a pretty consciousness of the flutter she has caused. The + war has not changed the Southern habit of sitting out-of-doors, but has + added a new element of street picturesqueness in groups of colored people + lounging about the corners. There appears to be more leisure than ever. + </p> + <p> + The scene of this little lesson in horsemanship was the old town of + Abingdon, in southwest Virginia, on the Virginia and East Tennessee + railway; a town of ancient respectability, which gave birth to the + Johnstons and Floyds and other notable people; a town, that still + preserves the flavor of excellent tobacco and, something of the easy-going + habits of the days of slavery, and is a sort of educational center, where + the young ladies of the region add the final graces of intellectual life + in moral philosophy and the use of the globes to their natural gifts. The + mansion of the late and left Floyd is now a seminary, and not far from it + is the Stonewall Jackson Institute, in the midst of a grove of splendid + oaks, whose stately boles and wide-spreading branches give a dignity to + educational life. The distinction of the region is its superb oak-trees. + As it was vacation in these institutions of learning, the travelers did + not see any of the vines that traditionally cling to the oak. + </p> + <p> + The Professor and the Friend of Humanity were about starting on a journey, + across country southward, through regions about which the people of + Abingdon could give little useful information. If the travelers had known + the capacities and resources of the country, they would not have started + without a supply train, or the establishment of bases of provisions in + advance. But, as the Professor remarked, knowledge is something that one + acquires when he has no use for it. The horses were saddled; the riders + were equipped with flannel shirts and leather leggings; the saddle-bags + were stuffed with clean linen, and novels, and sonnets of Shakespeare, and + other baggage, it would have been well if they had been stuffed with + hard-tack, for in real life meat is more than raiment. + </p> + <p> + The hotel, in front of which there is cultivated so much of what the + Germans call sitzfleisch, is a fair type of the majority of Southern + hotels, and differs from the same class in the North in being left a + little more to run itself. The only information we obtained about it was + from its porter at the station, who replied to the question, “Is it the + best?” “We warrant you perfect satisfaction in every respect.” This seems + to be only a formula of expression, for we found that the statement was + highly colored. It was left to our imagination to conjecture how the big + chambers of the old house, with their gaping fireplaces, might have looked + when furnished and filled with gay company, and we got what satisfaction + we could out of a bygone bustle and mint-julep hilarity. In our struggles + with the porter to obtain the little items of soap, water, and towels, we + were convinced that we had arrived too late, and that for perfect + satisfaction we should have been here before the war. It was not always as + now. In colonial days the accommodations and prices at inns were regulated + by law. In the old records in the court-house we read that if we had been + here in 1777, we could have had a gallon of good rum for sixteen + shillings; a quart bowl of rum toddy made with loaf sugar for two + shillings, or with brown sugar for one shilling and sixpence. In 1779 + prices had risen. Good rum sold for four pounds a gallon. It was ordered + that a warm dinner should cost twelve shillings, a cold dinner nine + shillings, and a good breakfast twelve shillings. But the item that + pleased us most, and made us regret our late advent, was that for two + shillings we could have had a “good lodging, with clean sheets.” The + colonists were fastidious people. + </p> + <p> + Abingdon, prettily situated on rolling hills, and a couple of thousand + feet above the sea, with views of mountain peaks to the south, is a + cheerful and not too exciting place for a brief sojourn, and hospitable + and helpful to the stranger. We had dined—so much, at least, the + public would expect of us—with a descendant of Pocahontas; we had + assisted on Sunday morning at the dedication of a new brick Methodist + church, the finest edifice in the region—a dedication that took a + long time, since the bishop would not proceed with it until money enough + was raised in open meeting to pay the balance due on it: a religious act, + though it did give a business aspect to the place at the time; and we had + been the light spots in the evening service at the most aristocratic + church of color. The irresponsibility of this amiable race was exhibited + in the tardiness with which they assembled: at the appointed time nobody + was there except the sexton; it was three quarters of an hour before the + congregation began to saunter in, and the sermon was nearly over before + the pews were at all filled. Perhaps the sermon was not new, but it was + fervid, and at times the able preacher roared so that articulate sounds + were lost in the general effect. It was precisely these passages of + cataracts of sound and hard breathing which excited the liveliest + responses,—“Yes, Lord,” and “Glory to God.” Most of these responses + came from the “Amen corner.” The sermon contained the usual vivid + description of the last judgment—ah, and I fancied that the + congregation did not get the ordinary satisfaction out of it. Fashion had + entered the fold, and the singing was mostly executed by a choir in the + dusky gallery, who thinly and harshly warbled the emotional hymns. It + occupied the minister a long time to give out the notices of the week, and + there was not an evening or afternoon that had not its meetings, its + literary or social gathering, its picnic or fair for the benefit of the + church, its Dorcas society, or some occasion of religious sociability. The + raising of funds appeared to be the burden on the preacher's mind. Two + collections were taken up. At the first, the boxes appeared to get no + supply except from the two white trash present. But the second was more + successful. After the sermon was over, an elder took his place at a table + within the rails, and the real business of the evening began. Somebody in + the Amen corner struck up a tune that had no end, but a mighty power of + setting the congregation in motion. The leader had a voice like the + pleasant droning of a bag-pipe, and the faculty of emitting a continuous + note like that instrument, without stopping to breathe. It went on and on + like a Bach fugue, winding and whining its way, turning the corners of the + lines of the catch without a break. The effect was soon visible in the + emotional crowd: feet began to move in a regular cadence and voices to + join in, with spurts of ejaculation; and soon, with an air of martyrdom, + the members began to leave their seats and pass before the table and + deposit their contributions. It was a cent contribution, and we found it + very difficult, under the contagious influence of the hum from the Amen + corner, not to rise and go forward and deposit a cent. If anything could + extract the pennies from a reluctant worldling, it would be the buzzing of + this tune. It went on and on, until the house appeared to be drained dry + of its cash; and we inferred by the stopping of the melody that the + preacher's salary was secure for the time being. On inquiring, we + ascertained that the pecuniary flood that evening had risen to the height + of a dollar and sixty cents. + </p> + <p> + All was ready for the start. It should have been early in the morning, but + it was not; for Virginia is not only one of the blessed regions where one + can get a late breakfast, but where it is almost impossible to get an + early one. At ten A. M. the two horsemen rode away out of sight of the + Abingdon spectators, down the eastern turnpike. The day was warm, but the + air was full of vitality and the spirit of adventure. It was the 22d of + July. The horses were not ambitious, but went on at an easy fox-trot that + permits observation and encourages conversation. It had been stipulated + that the horses should be good walkers, the one essential thing in a + horseback journey. Few horses, even in a country where riding is general, + are trained to walk fast. We hear much of horses that can walk five miles + an hour, but they are as rare as white elephants. Our horses were only + fair walkers. We realized how necessary this accomplishment is, for + between the Tennessee line and Asheville, North Carolina, there is + scarcely a mile of trotting-ground. + </p> + <p> + We soon turned southward and descended into the Holston River Valley. + Beyond lay the Tennessee hills and conspicuous White-Top Mountain (5530 + feet), which has a good deal of local celebrity (standing where the States + of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina corner), and had been pointed + out to us at Abingdon. We had been urged, personally and by letter, to + ascend this mountain, without fail. People recommend mountains to their + friends as they do patent medicines. As we leisurely jogged along we + discussed this, and endeavored to arrive at some rule of conduct for the + journey. The Professor expressed at once a feeling about mountain-climbing + that amounted to hostility,—he would go nowhere that he could not + ride. Climbing was the most unsatisfactory use to which a mountain could + be put. As to White-Top, it was a small mountain, and not worth ascending. + The Friend of Humanity, who believes in mountain-climbing as a theory, and + for other people, and knows the value of being able to say, without + detection, that he has ascended any high mountain about which he is + questioned,—since this question is the first one asked about an + exploration in a new country,—saw that he should have to use a good + deal of diplomacy to get the Professor over any considerable elevation on + the trip. And he had to confess also that a view from a mountain is never + so satisfactory as a view of a mountain, from a moderate height. The + Professor, however, did not argue the matter on any such reasonable + ground, but took his stand on his right as a man not to ascend a mountain. + With this appeal to first principles,—a position that could not be + confuted on account of its vagueness (although it might probably be + demonstrated that in society man has no such right), there was no way of + agreement except by a compromise. It was accordingly agreed that no + mountain under six thousand feet is worth ascending; that disposed of + White-Top. It was further agreed that any mountain that is over six + thousand feet high is too high to ascend on foot. + </p> + <p> + With this amicable adjustment we forded the Holston, crossing it twice + within a few miles. This upper branch of the Tennessee is a noble stream, + broad, with a rocky bed and a swift current. Fording it is ticklish + business except at comparatively low water, and as it is subject to sudden + rises, there must be times when it seriously interrupts travel. This whole + region, full of swift streams, is without a bridge, and, as a consequence, + getting over rivers and brooks and the dangers of ferries occupy a + prominent place in the thoughts of the inhabitants. The life necessarily + had the “frontier” quality all through, for there can be little solid + advance in civilization in the uncertainties of a bridgeless condition. An + open, pleasant valley, the Holston, but cultivation is more and more + negligent and houses are few and poorer as we advance. + </p> + <p> + We had left behind the hotels of “perfect satisfaction,” and expected to + live on the country, trusting to the infrequent but remunerated + hospitality of the widely scattered inhabitants. We were to dine at + Ramsey's. Ramsey's had been recommended to us as a royal place of + entertainment the best in all that region; and as the sun grew hot in the + sandy valley, and the weariness of noon fell upon us, we magnified + Ramsey's in our imagination,—the nobility of its situation, its + cuisine, its inviting restfulness,—and half decided to pass the + night there in the true abandon of plantation life. Long before we reached + it, the Holston River which we followed had become the Laurel, a most + lovely, rocky, winding stream, which we forded continually, for the valley + became too narrow much of the way to accommodate a road and a river. + Eagerly as we were looking out for it, we passed the great Ramsey's + without knowing it, for it was the first of a little settlement of two + houses and a saw-mill and barn. It was a neat log house of two lower rooms + and a summer kitchen, quite the best of the class that we saw, and the + pleasant mistress of it made us welcome. Across the road and close, to the + Laurel was the spring-house, the invariable adjunct to every well-to-do + house in the region, and on the stony margin of the stream was set up the + big caldron for the family washing; and here, paddling in the shallow + stream, while dinner was preparing, we established an intimacy with the + children and exchanged philosophical observations on life with the old + negress who was dabbling the clothes. What impressed this woman was the + inequality in life. She jumped to the unwarranted conclusion that the + Professor and the Friend were very rich, and spoke with asperity of the + difficulty she experienced in getting shoes and tobacco. It was useless to + point out to her that her alfresco life was singularly blessed and free + from care, and the happy lot of any one who could loiter all day by this + laughing stream, undisturbed by debt or ambition. Everybody about the + place was barefooted, except the mistress, including the comely daughter + of eighteen, who served our dinner in the kitchen. The dinner was + abundant, and though it seemed to us incongruous at the time, we were not + twelve hours older when we looked back upon it with longing. On the table + were hot biscuit, ham, pork, and green beans, apple-sauce, blackberry + preserves, cucumbers, coffee, plenty of milk, honey, and apple and + blackberry pie. Here we had our first experience, and I may say new + sensation, of “honey on pie.” It has a cloying sound as it is written, but + the handmaiden recommended it with enthusiasm, and we evidently fell in + her esteem, as persons from an uncultivated society, when we declared our + inexperience of “honey on pie.” “Where be you from?” It turned out to be + very good, and we have tried to introduce it in families since our return, + with indifferent success. There did not seem to be in this family much + curiosity about the world at large, nor much stir of social life. The + gayety of madame appeared to consist in an occasional visit to paw and maw + and grandmaw, up the river a few miles, where she was raised. + </p> + <p> + Refreshed by the honey and fodder at Ramsey's, the pilgrims went gayly + along the musical Laurel, in the slanting rays of the afternoon sun, which + played upon the rapids and illumined all the woody way. Inspired by the + misapprehension of the colored philosopher and the dainties of the dinner, + the Professor soliloquized: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “So am I as the rich, whose blessed key + Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, + The which he will not every hour survey, + For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. + Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare, + Since seldom coming, in the long year set, + Like stones of wealth they thinly placed are, + Or captain jewels in the carcanet.” + </pre> + <p> + Five miles beyond Ramsey's the Tennessee line was crossed. The Laurel + became more rocky, swift, full of rapids, and the valley narrowed down to + the riverway, with standing room, however, for stately trees along the + banks. The oaks, both black and white, were, as they had been all day, + gigantic in size and splendid in foliage. There is a certain dignity in + riding in such stately company, and the travelers clattered along over the + stony road under the impression of possible high adventure in a new world + of such freshness. Nor was beauty wanting. The rhododendrons had, perhaps, + a week ago reached their climax, and now began to strew the water and the + ground with their brilliant petals, dashing all the way with color; but + they were still matchlessly beautiful. Great banks of pink and white + covered the steep hillsides; the bending stems, ten to twenty feet high, + hung their rich clusters over the river; avenues of glory opened away in + the glade of the stream; and at every turn of the winding way vistas + glowing with the hues of romance wrenched exclamations of delight and + wonder from the Shakespearean sonneteer and his humble Friend. In the deep + recesses of the forest suddenly flamed to the view, like the splashes of + splendor on the somber canvas of an old Venetian, these wonders of color,—the + glowing summer-heart of the woods. + </p> + <p> + It was difficult to say, meantime, whether the road was laid out in the + river, or the river in the road. In the few miles to Egger's (this was the + destination of our great expectations for the night) the stream was + crossed twenty-seven times,—or perhaps it would be more proper to + say that the road was crossed twenty-seven times. Where the road did not + run in the river, its bed was washed out and as stony as the bed of the + stream. This is a general and accurate description of all the roads in + this region, which wind along and in the streams, through narrow valleys, + shut in by low and steep hills. The country is full of springs and + streams, and between Abingdon and Egger's is only one (small) bridge. In a + region with scarcely any level land or intervale, farmers are at a + disadvantage. All along the road we saw nothing but mean shanties, + generally of logs, with now and then a decent one-story frame, and the + people looked miserably poor. + </p> + <p> + As we picked our way along up the Laurel, obliged for the most part to + ride single-file, or as the Professor expressed it, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Let me confess that we two must be twain, + Although our undivided loves are one,” + </pre> + <p> + we gathered information about Egger's from the infrequent hovels on the + road, which inflamed our imaginations. Egger was the thriving man of the + region, and lived in style in a big brick house. We began to feel a doubt + that Egger would take us in, and so much did his brick magnificence + impress us that we regretted we had not brought apparel fit for the + society we were about to enter. + </p> + <p> + It was half-past six, and we were tired and hungry, when the domain of + Egger towered in sight,—a gaunt, two-story structure of raw brick, + unfinished, standing in a narrow intervale. We rode up to the gate, and + asked a man who sat in the front-door porch if this was Egger's, and if we + could be accommodated for the night. The man, without moving, allowed that + it was Egger's, and that we could probably stay there. This person, + however, exhibited so much indifference to our company, he was such a + hairy, unkempt man, and carried on face, hands, and clothes so much more + of the soil of the region than a prudent proprietor would divert from + raising corn, that we set him aside as a poor relation, and asked for Mr. + Egger. But the man, still without the least hospitable stir, admitted that + that was the name he went by, and at length advised us to “lite” and hitch + our horses, and sit on the porch with him and enjoy the cool of the + evening. The horses would be put up by and by, and in fact things + generally would come round some time. This turned out to be the easy way + of the country. Mr. Egger was far from being inhospitable, but was in no + hurry, and never had been in a hurry. He was not exactly a gentleman of + the old school. He was better than that. He dated from the time when there + were no schools at all, and he lived in that placid world which is without + information and ideas. Mr. Egger showed his superiority by a total lack of + curiosity about any other world. + </p> + <p> + This brick house, magnificent by comparison with other dwellings in this + country, seemed to us, on nearer acquaintance, only a thin, crude shell of + a house, half unfinished, with bare rooms, the plastering already + discolored. In point of furnishing it had not yet reached the “God bless + our Home” stage in crewel. In the narrow meadow, a strip of vivid green + south of the house, ran a little stream, fed by a copious spring, and over + it was built the inevitable spring-house. A post, driven into the bank by + the stream, supported a tin wash-basin, and here we performed our + ablutions. The traveler gets to like this freedom and primitive luxury. + </p> + <p> + The farm of Egger produces corn, wheat, grass, and sheep; it is a good + enough farm, but most of it lies at an angle of thirty-five to forty + degrees. The ridge back of the house, planted in corn, was as steep as the + roof of his dwelling. It seemed incredible that it ever could have been + plowed, but the proprietor assured us that it was plowed with mules, and I + judged that the harvesting must be done by squirrels. The soil is good + enough, if it would stay in place, but all the hillsides are seamed with + gullies. The discolored state of the streams was accounted for as soon as + we saw this cultivated land. No sooner is the land cleared of trees and + broken up than it begins to wash. We saw more of this later, especially in + North Carolina, where we encountered no stream of water that was not + muddy, and saw no cultivated ground that was not washed. The process of + denudation is going on rapidly wherever the original forests are girdled + (a common way of preparing for crops), or cut away. + </p> + <p> + As the time passed and there was no sign of supper, the question became a + burning one, and we went to explore the kitchen. No sign of it there. No + fire in the stove, nothing cooked in the house, of course. Mrs. Egger and + her comely young barefooted daughter had still the milking to attend to, + and supper must wait for the other chores. It seemed easier to be Mr. + Egger, in this state of existence, and sit on the front porch and meditate + on the price of mules and the prospect of a crop, than to be Mrs. Egger, + whose work was not limited from sun to sun; who had, in fact, a day's work + to do after the men-folks had knocked off; whose chances of neighborhood + gossip were scanty, whose amusements were confined to a religious meeting + once a fortnight. Good, honest people these, not unduly puffed up by the + brick house, grubbing away year in and year out. Yes, the young girl said, + there was a neighborhood party, now and then, in the winter. What a price + to pay for mere life! + </p> + <p> + Long before supper was ready, nearly nine o'clock, we had almost lost + interest in it. Meantime two other guests had arrived, a couple of drovers + from North Carolina, who brought into the circle—by this time a + wood-fire had been kindled in the sitting-room, which contained a bed, an + almanac, and some old copies of a newspaper—a rich flavor of cattle, + and talk of the price of steers. As to politics, although a presidential + campaign was raging, there was scarcely an echo of it here. This was + Johnson County, Tennessee, a strong Republican county but dog-gone it, + says Mr. Egger, it's no use to vote; our votes are overborne by the rest + of the State. Yes, they'd got a Republican member of Congress,—he'd + heard his name, but he'd forgotten it. The drover said he'd heard it also, + but he didn't take much interest in such things, though he wasn't any + Republican. Parties is pretty much all for office, both agreed. Even the + Professor, who was traveling in the interest of Reform, couldn't wake up a + discussion out of such a state of mind. + </p> + <p> + Alas! the supper, served in a room dimly lighted with a smoky lamp, on a + long table covered with oilcloth, was not of the sort to arouse the + delayed and now gone appetite of a Reformer, and yet it did not lack + variety: cornpone (Indian meal stirred up with water and heated through), + hot biscuit, slack-baked and livid, fried salt-pork swimming in grease, + apple-butter, pickled beets, onions and cucumbers raw, coffee (so-called), + buttermilk, and sweet milk when specially asked for (the correct taste, + however, is for buttermilk), and pie. This was not the pie of commerce, + but the pie of the country,—two thick slabs of dough, with a + squeezing of apple between. The profusion of this supper staggered the + novices, but the drovers attacked it as if such cooking were a common + occurrence and did justice to the weary labors of Mrs. Egger. + </p> + <p> + Egger is well prepared to entertain strangers, having several rooms and + several beds in each room. Upon consultation with the drovers, they said + they'd just as soon occupy an apartment by themselves, and we gave up + their society for the night. The beds in our chamber had each one sheet, + and the room otherwise gave evidence of the modern spirit; for in one + corner stood the fashionable aesthetic decoration of our Queen Anne + drawing-rooms,—the spinning-wheel. Soothed by this concession to + taste, we crowded in between the straw and the home-made blanket and + sheet, and soon ceased to hear the barking of dogs and the horned + encounters of the drovers' herd. + </p> + <p> + We parted with Mr. Egger after breakfast (which was a close copy of the + supper) with more respect than regret. His total charge for the + entertainment of two men and two horses—supper, lodging, and + breakfast—was high or low, as the traveler chose to estimate it. It + was $1.20: that is, thirty cents for each individual, or ten cents for + each meal and lodging. + </p> + <p> + Our road was a sort of by-way up Gentry Creek and over the Cut Laurel Gap + to Worth's, at Creston Post Office, in North Carolina,—the next + available halting place, said to be fifteen miles distant, and turning out + to be twenty-two, and a rough road. There is a little settlement about + Egger's, and the first half mile of our way we had the company of the + schoolmistress, a modest, pleasant-spoken girl. Neither she nor any other + people we encountered had any dialect or local peculiarity of speech. + Indeed, those we encountered that morning had nothing in manner or accent + to distinguish them. The novelists had led us to expect something + different; and the modest and pretty young lady with frank and open blue + eyes, who wore gloves and used the common English speech, had never + figured in the fiction of the region. Cherished illusions vanish often on + near approach. The day gave no peculiarity of speech to note, except the + occasional use of “hit” for “it.” + </p> + <p> + The road over Cut Laurel Gap was very steep and stony, the thermometer + mounted up to 80 deg., and, notwithstanding the beauty of the way, the + ride became tedious before we reached the summit. On the summit is the + dwelling and distillery of a colonel famous in these parts. We stopped at + the house for a glass of milk; the colonel was absent, and while the woman + in charge went after it, we sat on the veranda and conversed with a young + lady, tall, gent, well favored, and communicative, who leaned in the + doorway. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, this house stands on the line. Where you sit, you are in Tennessee; + I'm in North Carolina.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you live here?” + </p> + <p> + “Law, no; I'm just staying a little while at the colonel's. I live over + the mountain here, three miles from Taylorsville. I thought I'd be where I + could step into North Carolina easy.” + </p> + <p> + “How's that?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, they wanted me to go before the grand jury and testify about some + pistol-shooting down by our house, some friends of mine got into a little + difficulty,—and I did n't want to. I never has no difficulty with + nobody, never says nothing about nobody, has nothing against nobody, and I + reckon nobody has nothing against me.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you come alone?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, of course. I come across the mountain by a path through the woods. + That's nothing.” + </p> + <p> + A discreet, pleasant, pretty girl. This surely must be the Esmeralda who + lives in these mountains, and adorns low life by her virgin purity and + sentiment. As she talked on, she turned from time to time to the fireplace + behind her, and discharged a dark fluid from her pretty lips, with + accuracy of aim, and with a nonchalance that was not assumed, but belongs + to our free-born American girls. I cannot tell why this habit of hers + (which is no worse than the sister habit of “dipping”) should take her out + of the romantic setting that her face and figure had placed her in; but + somehow we felt inclined to ride on farther for our heroine. + </p> + <p> + “And yet,” said the Professor, as we left the site of the colonel's + thriving distillery, and by a winding, picturesque road through a rough + farming country descended into the valley,—“and yet, why fling aside + so readily a character and situation so full of romance, on account of a + habit of this mountain Helen, which one of our best poets has almost made + poetical, in the case of the pioneer taking his westward way, with ox-goad + pointing to the sky: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'He's leaving on the pictured rock + His fresh tobacco stain.' +</pre> + <p> + “To my mind the incident has Homeric elements. The Greeks would have + looked at it in a large, legendary way. Here is Helen, strong and lithe of + limb, ox-eyed, courageous, but woman-hearted and love-inspiring, contended + for by all the braves and daring moonshiners of Cut Laurel Gap, pursued by + the gallants of two States, the prize of a border warfare of bowie knives + and revolvers. This Helen, magnanimous as attractive, is the witness of a + pistol difficulty on her behalf, and when wanted by the areopagus, that + she may neither implicate a lover nor punish an enemy (having nothing, + this noble type of her sex against nobody), skips away to Mount Ida, and + there, under the aegis of the flag of her country, in a Licensed + Distillery, stands with one slender foot in Tennessee and the other in + North Carolina...” + </p> + <p> + “Like the figure of the Republic itself, superior to state sovereignty,” + interposed the Friend. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said the Professor, urging up Laura Matilda (for so + he called the nervous mare, who fretted herself into a fever in the stony + path), “I was quite able to get the woman out of that position without the + aid of a metaphor. It is a large and Greek idea, that of standing in two + mighty States, superior to the law, looking east and looking west, ready + to transfer her agile body to either State on the approach of messengers + of the court; and I'll be hanged if I didn't think that her nonchalant + rumination of the weed, combined with her lofty moral attitude, added + something to the picture.” + </p> + <p> + The Friend said that he was quite willing to join in the extremest defense + of the privileges of beauty,—that he even held in abeyance judgment + on the practice of dipping; but when it came to chewing, gum was as far as + he could go as an allowance for the fair sex. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “When I consider everything that grows + Holds in perfection but a little moment...” + </pre> + <p> + The rest of the stanza was lost, for the Professor was splashing through + the stream. No sooner had we descended than the fording of streams began + again. The Friend had been obliged to stipulate that the Professor should + go ahead at these crossings, to keep the impetuous nag of the latter from + throwing half the contents of the stream upon his slower and uncomplaining + companion. + </p> + <p> + What a lovely country, but for the heat of noon and the long wearisomeness + of the way!—not that the distance was great, but miles and miles + more than expected. How charming the open glades of the river, how + refreshing the great forests of oak and chestnut, and what a panorama of + beauty the banks of rhododendrons, now intermingled with the lighter pink + and white of the laurel! In this region the rhododendron is called laurel + and the laurel (the sheep-laurel of New England) is called ivy. + </p> + <p> + At Worth's, well on in the afternoon, we emerged into a wide, open farming + intervale, a pleasant place of meadows and streams and decent dwellings. + Worth's is the trading center of the region, has a post office and a + saw-mill and a big country store; and the dwelling of the proprietor is + not unlike a roomy New England country house. Worth's has been + immemorially a stopping-place in a region where places of accommodation + are few. The proprietor, now an elderly man, whose reminiscences are long + ante bellum, has seen the world grow up about him, he the honored, just + center of it, and a family come up into the modern notions of life, with a + boarding-school education and glimpses of city life and foreign travel. I + fancy that nothing but tradition and a remaining Southern hospitality + could induce this private family to suffer the incursions of this + wayfaring man. Our travelers are not apt to be surprised at anything in + American life, but they did not expect to find a house in this region with + two pianos and a bevy of young ladies, whose clothes were certainly not + made on Cut Laurel Gap, and to read in the books scattered about the house + the evidences of the finishing schools with which our country is blessed, + nor to find here pupils of the Stonewall Jackson Institute at Abingdon. + With a flush of local pride, the Professor took up, in the roomy, pleasant + chamber set apart for the guests, a copy of Porter's “Elements of Moral + Science.” + </p> + <p> + “Where you see the 'Elements of Moral Science,'” the Friend generalized, + “there'll be plenty of water and towels;” and the sign did not fail. The + friends intended to read this book in the cool of the day; but as they sat + on the long veranda, the voice of a maiden reading the latest novel to a + sewing group behind the blinds in the drawing-room; and the antics of a + mule and a boy in front of the store opposite; and the arrival of a spruce + young man, who had just ridden over from somewhere, a matter of ten miles' + gallop, to get a medicinal potion for his sick mother, and lingered + chatting with the young ladies until we began to fear that his mother + would recover before his return; the coming and going of lean women in + shackly wagons to trade at the store; the coming home of the cows, + splashing through the stream, hooking right and left, and lowing for the + hand of the milker,—all these interruptions, together with the + generally drowsy quiet of the approach of evening, interfered with the + study of the Elements. And when the travelers, after a refreshing rest, + went on their way next morning, considering the Elements and the pianos + and the refinement, to say nothing of the cuisine, which is not treated of + in the text-book referred to, they were content with a bill double that of + brother Egger, in his brick magnificence. + </p> + <p> + The simple truth is, that the traveler in this region must be content to + feed on natural beauties. And it is an unfortunate truth in natural + history that the appetite for this sort of diet fails after a time, if the + inner man is not supplied with other sort of food. There is no landscape + in the world that is agreeable after two days of rusty-bacon and slack + biscuit. + </p> + <p> + “How lovely this would be,” exclaimed the Professor, if it had a + background of beefsteak and coffee! + </p> + <p> + We were riding along the west fork of the Laurel, distinguished locally as + Three Top Creek,—or, rather, we were riding in it, crossing it + thirty-one times within six miles; a charming wood (and water) road, under + the shade of fine trees with the rhododendron illuminating the way, + gleaming in the forest and reflected in the stream, all the ten miles to + Elk Cross Roads, our next destination. We had heard a great deal about Elk + Cross Roads; it was on the map, it was down in the itinerary furnished by + a member of the Coast Survey. We looked forward to it as a sweet place of + repose from the noontide heat. Alas! Elk Cross Roads is a dirty grocery + store, encumbered with dry-goods boxes, fly-blown goods, flies, loafers. + In reply to our inquiry we were told that they had nothing to eat, for us, + and not a grain of feed for the horses. But there was a man a mile farther + on, who was well to do and had stores of food,—old man Tatern would + treat us in bang-up style. The difficulty of getting feed for the horses + was chronic all through the journey. The last corn crop had failed, the + new oats and corn had not come in, and the country was literally barren. + We had noticed all along that the hens were taking a vacation, and that + chickens were not put forward as an article of diet. + </p> + <p> + We were unable, when we reached the residence of old man Tatem, to imagine + how the local superstition of his wealth arose. His house is of logs, with + two rooms, a kitchen and a spare room, with a low loft accessible by a + ladder at the side of the chimney. The chimney is a huge construction of + stone, separating the two parts of the house; in fact, the chimney was + built first, apparently, and the two rooms were then built against it. The + proprietor sat in a little railed veranda. These Southern verandas give an + air to the meanest dwelling, and they are much used; the family sit here, + and here are the washbasin and pail (which is filled from the neighboring + spring-house), and the row of milk-pans. The old man Tatern did not + welcome us with enthusiasm; he had no corn,—these were hard times. + He looked like hard times, grizzled times, dirty times. It seemed time out + of mind since he had seen comb or razor, and although the lovely New + River, along which we had ridden to his house,—a broad, inviting + stream,—was in sight across the meadow, there was no evidence that + he had ever made acquaintance with its cleansing waters. As to corn, the + necessities of the case and pay being dwelt on, perhaps he could find a + dozen ears. A dozen small cars he did find, and we trust that the horses + found them. + </p> + <p> + We took a family dinner with old man Tatern in the kitchen, where there + was a bed and a stove,—a meal that the host seemed to enjoy, but + which we could not make much of, except the milk; that was good. A painful + meal, on the whole, owing to the presence in the room of a grown-up + daughter with a graveyard cough, without physician or medicine, or + comforts. Poor girl! just dying of “a misery.” + </p> + <p> + In the spare room were two beds; the walls were decorated with the + gay-colored pictures of patent-medicine advertisements—a favorite + art adornment of the region; and a pile of ancient illustrated papers with + the usual patent-office report, the thoughtful gift of the member for the + district. The old man takes in the “Blue Ridge Baptist,” a journal which + we found largely taken up with the experiences of its editor on his + journeys roundabout in search of subscribers. This newspaper was the sole + communication of the family with the world at large, but the old man + thought he should stop it,—he did n't seem to get the worth of his + money out of it. And old man Tatem was a thrifty and provident man. On the + hearth in this best room—as ornaments or memento mori were a couple + of marble gravestones, a short headstone and foot-stone, mounted on bases + and ready for use, except the lettering. These may not have been so + mournful and significant as they looked, nor the evidence of simple, + humble faith; they may have been taken for debt. But as parlor ornaments + they had a fascination which we could not escape. + </p> + <p> + It was while we were bathing in the New River, that afternoon, and + meditating on the grim, unrelieved sort of life of our host, that the + Professor said, “judging by the face of the 'Blue Ridge Baptist,' he will + charge us smartly for the few nubbins of corn and the milk.” The face did + not deceive us; the charge was one dollar. At this rate it would have + broken us to have tarried with old man Tatem (perhaps he is not old, but + that is the name he goes by) over night. + </p> + <p> + It was a hot afternoon, and it needed some courage to mount and climb the + sandy hill leading us away from the corn-crib of Tatem. But we entered + almost immediately into fine stretches of forest, and rode under the shade + of great oaks. The way, which began by the New River, soon led us over the + hills to the higher levels of Watauga County. So far on our journey we had + been hemmed in by low hills, and without any distant or mountain outlooks. + The excessive heat seemed out of place at the elevation of over two + thousand feet, on which we were traveling. Boone, the county seat of + Watauga County, was our destination, and, ever since morning, the + guideboards and the trend of the roads had notified us that everything in + this region tends towards Boone as a center of interest. The simple + ingenuity of some of the guide-boards impressed us. If, on coming to a + fork, the traveler was to turn to the right, the sign read, + </p> + <p> + To BOONE 10 M. + </p> + <p> + If he was to go to the left, it read, .M 01 ENOOB oT + </p> + <p> + A short ride of nine miles, on an ascending road, through an open, + unfenced forest region, brought us long before sundown to this capital. + When we had ridden into its single street, which wanders over gentle + hills, and landed at the most promising of the taverns, the Friend + informed his comrade that Boone was 3250 feet above Albemarle Sound, and + believed by its inhabitants to be the highest village east of the Rocky + Mountains. The Professor said that it might be so, but it was a + God-forsaken place. Its inhabitants numbered perhaps two hundred and + fifty, a few of them colored. It had a gaunt, shaky court-house and jail, + a store or two, and two taverns. The two taverns are needed to accommodate + the judges and lawyers and their clients during the session of the court. + The court is the only excitement and the only amusement. It is the event + from which other events date. Everybody in the county knows exactly when + court sits, and when court breaks. During the session the whole county is + practically in Boone, men, women, and children. They camp there, they + attend the trials, they take sides; half of them, perhaps, are witnesses, + for the region is litigious, and the neighborhood quarrels are entered + into with spirit. To be fond of lawsuits seems a characteristic of an + isolated people in new conditions. The early settlers of New England were. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the elevation of Boone, which insured a pure air, the + thermometer that afternoon stood at from 85 to 89 deg. The flies enjoyed + it. How they swarmed in this tavern! They would have carried off all the + food from the dining-room table (for flies do not mind eating off + oilcloth, and are not particular how food is cooked), but for the machine + with hanging flappers that swept the length of it; and they destroy all + possibility of sleep except in the dark. The mountain regions of North + Carolina are free from mosquitoes, but the fly has settled there, and is + the universal scourge. This tavern, one end of which was a store, had a + veranda in front, and a back gallery, where there were evidences of female + refinement in pots of plants and flowers. The landlord himself kept tavern + very much as a hostler would, but we had to make a note in his favor that + he had never heard of a milk punch. And it might as well be said here, for + it will have to be insisted on later, that the traveler, who has read + about the illicit stills till his imagination dwells upon the indulgence + of his vitiated tastes in the mountains of North Carolina, is doomed to + disappointment. If he wants to make himself an exception to the sober + people whose cooking will make him long for the maddening bowl, he must + bring his poison with him. We had found no bread since we left Virginia; + we had seen cornmeal and water, slack-baked; we had seen potatoes fried in + grease, and bacon incrusted with salt (all thirst-provokers), but nothing + to drink stronger than buttermilk. And we can say that, so far as our + example is concerned, we left the country as temperate as we found it. How + can there be mint juleps (to go into details) without ice? and in the + summer there is probably not a pound of ice in all the State north of + Buncombe County. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing special to be said about Boone. We were anxious to reach + it, we were glad to leave it; we note as to all these places that our joy + at departing always exceeds that on arriving, which is a merciful + provision of nature for people who must keep moving. This country is + settled by genuine Americans, who have the aboriginal primitive traits of + the universal Yankee nation. The front porch in the morning resembled a + carpenter's shop; it was literally covered with the whittlings of the row + of natives who had spent the evening there in the sedative occupation of + whittling. + </p> + <p> + We took that morning a forest road to Valle Crusis, seven miles, through + noble growths of oaks, chestnuts, hemlocks, rhododendrons,—a + charming wood road, leading to a place that, as usual, did not keep the + promise of its name. Valle Crusis has a blacksmith shop and a dirty, + flyblown store. While the Professor consulted the blacksmith about a loose + shoe, the Friend carried his weariness of life without provisions up to a + white house on the hill, and negotiated for boiled milk. This house was + occupied by flies. They must have numbered millions, settled in black + swarms, covering tables, beds, walls, the veranda; the kitchen was simply + a hive of them. The only book in sight, Whewell's—“Elements of + Morality,” seemed to attract flies. Query, Why should this have such a + different effect from Porter's? A white house,—a pleasant-looking + house at a distance,—amiable, kindly people in it,—why should + we have arrived there on its dirty day? Alas! if we had been starving, + Valle Crusis had nothing to offer us. + </p> + <p> + So we rode away, in the blazing heat, no poetry exuding from the + Professor, eight miles to Banner's Elk, crossing a mountain and passing + under Hanging Rock, a conspicuous feature in the landscape, and the only + outcropping of rock we had seen: the face of a ledge, rounded up into the + sky, with a green hood on it. From the summit we had the first extensive + prospect during our journey. The road can be described as awful,—steep, + stony, the horses unable to make two miles an hour on it. Now and then we + encountered a rude log cabin without barns or outhouses, and a little + patch of feeble corn. The women who regarded the passers from their cabin + doors were frowzy and looked tired. What with the heat and the road and + this discouraged appearance of humanity, we reached the residence of + Dugger, at Banner's Elk, to which we had been directed, nearly exhausted. + It is no use to represent this as a dash across country on impatient + steeds. It was not so. The love of truth is stronger than the desire of + display. And for this reason it is impossible to say that Mr. Dugger, who + is an excellent man, lives in a clean and attractive house, or that he + offers much that the pampered child of civilization can eat. But we shall + not forget the two eggs, fresh from the hens, whose temperature must have + been above the normal, nor the spring-house in the glen, where we found a + refuge from the flies and the heat. The higher we go, the hotter it is. + Banner's Elk boasts an elevation of thirty-five to thirty-seven hundred + feet. + </p> + <p> + We were not sorry, towards sunset, to descend along the Elk River towards + Cranberry Forge. The Elk is a lovely stream, and, though not very clear, + has a reputation for trout; but all this region was under operation of a + three-years game law, to give the trout a chance to multiply, and we had + no opportunity to test the value of its reputation. Yet a boy whom we + encountered had a good string of quarter-pound trout, which he had taken + out with a hook and a feather rudely tied on it, to resemble a fly. The + road, though not to be commended, was much better than that of the + morning, the forests grew charming in the cool of the evening, the + whippoorwill sang, and as night fell the wanderers, in want of nearly + everything that makes life desirable, stopped at the Iron Company's hotel, + under the impression that it was the only comfortable hotel in North + Carolina. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II + </h2> + <p> + Cranberry Forge is the first wedge of civilization fairly driven into the + northwest mountains of North Carolina. A narrow-gauge railway, starting + from Johnson City, follows up the narrow gorge of the Doe River, and + pushes into the heart of the iron mines at Cranberry, where there is a + blast furnace; and where a big company store, rows of tenement houses, + heaps of slag and refuse ore, interlacing tracks, raw embankments, denuded + hillsides, and a blackened landscape, are the signs of a great devastating + American enterprise. The Cranberry iron is in great esteem, as it has the + peculiar quality of the Swedish iron. There are remains of old furnaces + lower down the stream, which we passed on our way. The present “plant” is + that of a Philadelphia company, whose enterprise has infused new life into + all this region, made it accessible, and spoiled some pretty scenery. + </p> + <p> + When we alighted, weary, at the gate of the pretty hotel, which crowns a + gentle hill and commands a pleasing, evergreen prospect of many gentle + hills, a mile or so below the works, and wholly removed from all sordid + associations, we were at the point of willingness that the whole country + should be devastated by civilization. In the local imagination this hotel + of the company is a palace of unequaled magnificence, but probably its + good taste, comfort, and quiet elegance are not appreciated after all. + There is this to be said about Philadelphia,—and it will go far in + pleading for it in the Last Day against its monotonous rectangularity and + the babel-like ambition of its Public Building,—that wherever its + influence extends, there will be found comfortable lodgings and the luxury + of an undeniably excellent cuisine. The visible seal that Philadelphia + sets on its enterprise all through the South is a good hotel. + </p> + <p> + This Cottage Beautiful has on two sides a wide veranda, set about with + easy chairs; cheerful parlors and pretty chambers, finished in native + woods, among which are conspicuous the satin stripes of the cucumber-tree; + luxurious beds, and an inviting table ordered by a Philadelphia landlady, + who knows a beefsteak from a boot-tap. Is it “low” to dwell upon these + things of the senses, when one is on a tour in search of the picturesque? + Let the reader ride from Abingdon through a wilderness of cornpone and + rusty bacon, and then judge. There were, to be sure, novels lying about, + and newspapers, and fragments of information to be picked up about a world + into which the travelers seemed to emerge. They, at least, were satisfied, + and went off to their rooms with the restful feeling that they had arrived + somewhere and no unquiet spirit at morn would say “to horse.” To sleep, + perchance to dream of Tatem and his household cemetery; and the Professor + was heard muttering in his chamber, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, + The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; + But then begins a journey in my head, + To work my mind, when body's work's expir'd.” + </pre> + <p> + The morning was warm (the elevation of the hotel must be between + twenty-five hundred and three thousand feet), rainy, mildly rainy; and the + travelers had nothing better to do than lounge upon the veranda, read + feeble ten-cent fictions, and admire the stems of the white birches, + glistening in the moisture, and the rhododendron—trees, twenty feet + high, which were shaking off their last pink blossoms, and look down into + the valley of the Doe. It is not an exciting landscape, nothing bold or + specially wild in it, but restful with the monotony of some of the wooded + Pennsylvania hills. + </p> + <p> + Sunday came up smiling, a lovely day, but offering no church privileges, + for the ordinance of preaching is only occasional in this region. The + ladies of the hotel have, however, gathered in the valley a Sunday-school + of fifty children from the mountain cabins. A couple of rainy days, with + the thermometer rising to 80 deg., combined with natural laziness to + detain the travelers in this cottage of ease. They enjoyed this the more + because it was on their consciences that they should visit Linville Falls, + some twenty-five miles eastward, long held up before them as the most + magnificent feature of this region, and on no account to be omitted. + Hence, naturally, a strong desire to omit it. The Professor takes bold + ground against these abnormal freaks of nature, and it was nothing to him + that the public would demand that we should see Linville Falls. In the + first place, we could find no one who had ever seen them, and we spent two + days in catechizing natives and strangers. The nearest we came to + information was from a workman at the furnace, who was born and raised + within three miles of the Falls. He had heard of people going there. He + had never seen them himself. It was a good twenty-five miles there, over + the worst road in the State we'd think it thirty before we got there. + Fifty miles of such travel to see a little water run down-hill! The + travelers reflected. Every country has a local waterfall of which it + boasts; they had seen a great many. One more would add little to the + experience of life. The vagueness of information, to be sure, lured the + travelers to undertake the journey; but the temptation was resisted—something + ought to be left for the next explorer—and so Linville remains a + thing of the imagination. + </p> + <p> + Towards evening, July 29, between showers, the Professor and the Friend + rode along the narrow-gauge road, down Johnson's Creek, to Roan Station, + the point of departure for ascending Roan Mountain. It was a ride of an + hour and a half over a fair road, fringed with rhododendrons, nearly + blossomless; but at a point on the stream this sturdy shrub had formed a + long bower where under a table might have been set for a temperance + picnic, completely overgrown with wild grape, and still gay with bloom. + The habitations on the way are mostly board shanties and mean frame + cabins, but the railway is introducing ambitious architecture here and + there in the form of ornamental filigree work on flimsy houses; + ornamentation is apt to precede comfort in our civilization. + </p> + <p> + Roan Station is on the Doe River (which flows down from Roan Mountain), + and is marked at 1265 feet above the sea. The visitor will find here a + good hotel, with open wood fires (not ungrateful in a July evening), and + obliging people. This railway from Johnson City, hanging on the edge of + the precipices that wall the gorge of the Doe, is counted in this region + by the inhabitants one of the engineering wonders of the world. The + tourist is urged by all means to see both it and Linville Falls. + </p> + <p> + The tourist on horseback, in search of exercise and recreation, is not + probably expected to take stock of moral conditions. But this Mitchell + County, although it was a Union county during the war and is Republican in + politics (the Southern reader will perhaps prefer another adverb to + “although”), has had the worst possible reputation. The mountains were + hiding-places of illicit distilleries; the woods were full of + grog-shanties, where the inflaming fluid was sold as “native brandy,” + quarrels and neighborhood difficulties were frequent, and the knife and + pistol were used on the slightest provocation. Fights arose about + boundaries and the title to mica mines, and with the revenue officers; and + force was the arbiter of all disputes. Within the year four murders were + committed in the sparsely settled county. Travel on any of the roads was + unsafe. The tone of morals was what might be expected with such + lawlessness. A lady who came up on the road on the 4th of July, when an + excursion party of country people took possession of the cars, witnessed a + scene and heard language past belief. Men, women, and children drank from + whisky bottles that continually circulated, and a wild orgy resulted. + Profanity, indecent talk on topics that even the license of the sixteenth + century would not have tolerated, and freedom of manners that even Teniers + would have shrunk from putting on canvas, made the journey horrible. + </p> + <p> + The unrestrained license of whisky and assault and murder had produced a + reaction a few months previous to our visit. The people had risen up in + their indignation and broken up the groggeries. So far as we observed + temperance prevailed, backed by public-opinion. In our whole ride through + the mountain region we saw only one or two places where liquor was sold. + </p> + <p> + It is called twelve miles from Roan Station to Roan Summit. The distance + is probably nearer fourteen, and our horses were five hours in walking it. + For six miles the road runs by Doe River, here a pretty brook shaded with + laurel and rhododendron, and a few cultivated patches of ground, and + infrequent houses. It was a blithe morning, and the horsemen would have + given full indulgence to the spirit of adventure but for the attitude of + the Professor towards mountains. It was not with him a matter of feeling, + but of principle, not to ascend them. But here lay Roan, a long, sprawling + ridge, lifting itself 6250 feet up into the sky. Impossible to go around + it, and the other side must be reached. The Professor was obliged to + surrender, and surmount a difficulty which he could not philosophize out + of his mind. + </p> + <p> + From the base of the mountain a road is very well engineered, in easy + grades for carriages, to the top; but it was in poor repair and stony. We + mounted slowly through splendid forests, specially of fine chestnuts and + hemlocks. This big timber continues till within a mile and a half of the + summit by the winding road, really within a short distance of the top. + Then there is a narrow belt of scrubby hardwood, moss-grown, and then + large balsams, which crown the mountain. As soon as we came out upon the + southern slope we found great open spaces, covered with succulent grass, + and giving excellent pasturage to cattle. These rich mountain meadows are + found on all the heights of this region. The surface of Roan is uneven, + and has no one culminating peak that commands the country, like the peak + of Mount Washington, but several eminences within its range of probably a + mile and a half, where various views can be had. Near the highest point, + sheltered from the north by balsams, stands a house of entertainment, with + a detached cottage, looking across the great valley to the Black Mountain + range. The surface of the mountain is pebbly, but few rocks crop out; no + ledges of any size are seen except at a distance from the hotel, on the + north side, and the mountain consequently lacks that savage, unsubduable + aspect which the White Hills of New Hampshire have. It would, in fact, + have been difficult to realize that we were over six thousand feet above + the sea, except for that pallor in the sunlight, that atmospheric thinness + and want of color which is an unpleasant characteristic of high altitudes. + To be sure, there is a certain brilliancy in the high air,—it is apt + to be foggy on Roan,—and objects appear in sharp outline, but I have + often experienced on such places that feeling of melancholy, which would, + of course, deepen upon us all if we were sensible that the sun was + gradually withdrawing its power of warmth and light. The black balsam is + neither a cheerful nor a picturesque tree; the frequent rains and mists on + Roan keep the grass and mosses green, but the ground damp. Doubtless a + high mountain covered with vegetation has its compensation, but for me the + naked granite rocks in sun and shower are more cheerful. + </p> + <p> + The advantage of Roan is that one can live there and be occupied for a + long time in mineral and botanical study. Its mild climate, moisture, and + great elevation make it unique in this country for the botanist. The + variety of plants assembled there is very large, and there are many, we + were told, never or rarely found elsewhere in the United States. At any + rate, the botanists rave about Roan Mountain, and spend weeks at a time on + it. We found there ladies who could draw for us Grey's lily (then passed), + and had kept specimens of the rhododendron (not growing elsewhere in this + region) which has a deep red, almost purple color. + </p> + <p> + The hotel (since replaced by a good house) was a rude mountain structure, + with a couple of comfortable rooms for office and sitting-room, in which + big wood fires were blazing; for though the thermometer might record 60 + deg., as it did when we arrived, fire was welcome. Sleeping-places + partitioned off in the loft above gave the occupants a feeling of camping + out, all the conveniences being primitive; and when the wind rose in the + night and darkness, and the loose boards rattled and the timbers creaked, + the sensation was not unlike that of being at sea. The hotel was + satisfactorily kept, and Southern guests, from as far south as New + Orleans, were spending the season there, and not finding time hang heavy + on their hands. This statement is perhaps worth more than pages of + description as to the character of Roan, and its contrast to Mount + Washington. + </p> + <p> + The summer weather is exceedingly uncertain on all these North Carolina + mountains; they are apt at any moment to be enveloped in mist; and it + would rather rain on them than not. On the afternoon of our arrival there + was fine air and fair weather, but not a clear sky. The distance was hazy, + but the outlines were preserved. We could see White Top, in Virginia; + Grandfather Mountain, a long serrated range; the twin towers of Linville; + and the entire range of the Black Mountains, rising from the valley, and + apparently lower than we were. They get the name of Black from the balsams + which cover the summits. + </p> + <p> + The rain on Roan was of less annoyance by reason of the delightful company + assembled at the hotel, which was in a manner at home there, and, thrown + upon its own resources, came out uncommonly strong in agreeableness. There + was a fiddle in the house, which had some of the virtues of that + celebrated in the history of old Mark Langston; the Professor was enabled + to produce anything desired out of the literature of the eighteenth + century; and what with the repartee of bright women, big wood fires, + reading, and chat, there was no dull day or evening on Roan. I can fancy, + however, that it might tire in time, if one were not a botanist, without + the resource of women's society. The ladies staying here were probably all + accomplished botanists, and the writer is indebted to one of them for a + list of plants found on Roan, among which is an interesting weed, + catalogued as Humana, perplexia negligens. The species is, however, common + elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + The second morning opened, after a night of high wind, with a + thunder-shower. After it passed, the visitors tried to reach Eagle Cliff, + two miles off, whence an extensive western prospect is had, but were + driven back by a tempest, and rain practically occupied the day. Now and + then through the parted clouds we got a glimpse of a mountain-side, or the + gleam of a valley. On the lower mountains, at wide intervals apart, were + isolated settlements, commonly a wretched cabin and a spot of girdled + trees. A clergyman here, not long ago, undertook to visit some of these + cabins and carry his message to them. In one wretched hut of logs he found + a poor woman, with whom, after conversation on serious subjects, he + desired to pray. She offered no objection, and he kneeled down and prayed. + The woman heard him, and watched him for some moments with curiosity, in + an effort to ascertain what he was doing, and then said: + </p> + <p> + “Why, a man did that when he put my girl in a hole.” + </p> + <p> + Towards night the wind hauled round from the south to the northwest, and + we went to High Bluff, a point on the north edge, where some rocks are + piled up above the evergreens, to get a view of the sunset. In every + direction the mountains were clear, and a view was obtained of the vast + horizon and the hills and lowlands of several States—a continental + prospect, scarcely anywhere else equaled for variety or distance. The + grandeur of mountains depends mostly on the state of the atmosphere. + Grandfather loomed up much more loftily than the day before, the giant + range of the Blacks asserted itself in grim inaccessibility, and we could + see, a small pyramid on the southwest horizon, King's Mountain in South + Carolina, estimated to be distant one hundred and fifty miles. To the + north Roan falls from this point abruptly, and we had, like a map below + us, the low country all the way into Virginia. The clouds lay like lakes + in the valleys of the lower hills, and in every direction were ranges of + mountains wooded to the summits. Off to the west by south lay the Great + Smoky Mountains, disputing eminence with the Blacks. + </p> + <p> + Magnificent and impressive as the spectacle was, we were obliged to + contrast it unfavorably with that of the White Hills. The rock here is a + sort of sand or pudding stone; there is no limestone or granite. And all + the hills are tree-covered. To many this clothing of verdure is most + restful and pleasing. I missed the sharp outlines, the delicate artistic + sky lines, sharply defined in uplifted bare granite peaks and ridges, with + the purple and violet color of the northern mountains, and which it seems + to me that limestone and granite formations give. There are none of the + great gorges and awful abysses of the White Mountains, both valleys and + mountains here being more uniform in outline. There are few precipices and + jutting crags, and less is visible of the giant ribs and bones of the + planet. + </p> + <p> + Yet Roan is a noble mountain. A lady from Tennessee asked me if I had ever + seen anything to compare with it—she thought there could be nothing + in the world. One has to dodge this sort of question in the South + occasionally, not to offend a just local pride. It is certainly one of the + most habitable of big mountains. It is roomy on top, there is space to + move about without too great fatigue, and one might pleasantly spend a + season there, if he had agreeable company and natural tastes. + </p> + <p> + Getting down from Roan on the south side is not as easy as ascending on + the north; the road for five miles to the foot of the mountain is merely a + river of pebbles, gullied by the heavy rains, down which the horses picked + their way painfully. The travelers endeavored to present a dashing and + cavalier appearance to the group of ladies who waved good-by from the + hotel, as they took their way over the waste and wind-blown declivities, + but it was only a show, for the horses would neither caracole nor champ + the bit (at a dollar a day) down-hill over the slippery stones, and, truth + to tell, the wanderers turned with regret from the society of leisure and + persiflage to face the wilderness of Mitchell County. + </p> + <p> + “How heavy,” exclaimed the Professor, pricking Laura Matilda to call her + attention sharply to her footing— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “How heavy do I journey on the way, + When what I seek—my weary travel's end + Doth teach that ease and that repose to say, + Thus far the miles are measur'd from thy friend! + The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, + Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, + As if by some instinct the wretch did know + His rider loved not speed, being made from thee: + The bloody spur cannot provoke him on + That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, + Which heavily he answers with a groan, + More sharp to me than spurring to his side; + For that same groan doth put this in my mind; + My grief lies onward and my joy behind.” + </pre> + <p> + This was not spoken to the group who fluttered their farewells, but poured + out to the uncomplaining forest, which rose up in ever statelier—and + grander ranks to greet the travelers as they descended—the silent, + vast forest, without note of bird or chip of squirrel, only the wind + tossing the great branches high overhead in response to the sonnet. Is + there any region or circumstance of life that the poet did not forecast + and provide for? But what would have been his feelings if he could have + known that almost three centuries after these lines were penned, they + would be used to express the emotion of an unsentimental traveler in the + primeval forests of the New World? At any rate, he peopled the New World + with the children of his imagination. And, thought the Friend, whose + attention to his horse did not permit him to drop into poetry, Shakespeare + might have had a vision of this vast continent, though he did not refer to + it, when he exclaimed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “What is your substance, whereof are you made, + That millions of strange shadows on you tend?” + </pre> + <p> + Bakersville, the capital of Mitchell County, is eight miles from the top + of Roan, and the last three miles of the way the horsemen found tolerable + going, over which the horses could show their paces. The valley looked + fairly thrifty and bright, and was a pleasing introduction to Bakersville, + a pretty place in the hills, of some six hundred inhabitants, with two + churches, three indifferent hotels, and a court-house. This mountain town, + 2550 feet above the sea, is said to have a decent winter climate, with + little snow, favorable to fruit-growing, and, by contrast with New + England, encouraging to people with weak lungs. + </p> + <p> + This is the center of the mica mining, and of considerable excitement + about minerals. All around, the hills are spotted with “diggings.” Most of + the mines which yield well show signs of having been worked before, a very + long time ago, no doubt by the occupants before the Indians. The mica is + of excellent quality and easily mined. It is got out in large + irregular-shaped blocks and transported to the factories, where it is + carefully split by hand, and the laminae, of as large size as can be + obtained, are trimmed with shears and tied up in packages for market. The + quantity of refuse, broken, and rotten mica piled up about the factories + is immense, and all the roads round about glisten with its scales. Garnets + are often found imbedded in the laminae, flattened by the extreme pressure + to which the mass was subjected. It is fascinating material, this mica, to + handle, and we amused ourselves by experimenting on the thinness to which + its scales could be reduced by splitting. It was at Bakersville that we + saw specimens of mica that resembled the delicate tracery in the + moss-agate and had the iridescent sheen of the rainbow colors—the + most delicate greens, reds, blues, purples, and gold, changing from one to + the other in the reflected light. In the texture were the tracings of + fossil forms of ferns and the most exquisite and delicate vegetable beauty + of the coal age. But the magnet shows this tracery to be iron. We were + shown also emeralds and “diamonds,” picked up in this region, and there is + a mild expectation in all the inhabitants of great mineral treasure. A + singular product of the region is the flexible sandstone. It is a most + uncanny stone. A slip of it a couple of feet long and an inch in diameter + each way bends in the hand like a half-frozen snake. This conduct of a + substance that we have been taught to regard as inflexible impairs one's + confidence in the stability of nature and affects him as an earthquake + does. + </p> + <p> + This excitement over mica and other minerals has the usual effect of + starting up business and creating bad blood. Fortunes have been made, and + lost in riotous living; scores of visionary men have been disappointed; + lawsuits about titles and claims have multiplied, and quarrels ending in + murder have been frequent in the past few years. The mica and the illicit + whisky have worked together to make this region one of lawlessness and + violence. The travelers were told stories of the lack of common morality + and decency in the region, but they made no note of them. And, perhaps + fortunately, they were not there during court week to witness the scenes + of license that were described. This court week, which draws hither the + whole population, is a sort of Saturnalia. Perhaps the worst of this is + already a thing of the past; for the outrages a year before had reached + such a pass that by a common movement the sale of whisky was stopped (not + interdicted, but stopped), and not a drop of liquor could be bought in + Bakersville nor within three miles of it. + </p> + <p> + The jail at Bakersville is a very simple residence. The main building is + brick, two stories high and about twelve feet square. The walls are so + loosely laid up that it seems as if a colored prisoner might butt his head + through. Attached to this is a room for the jailer. In the lower room is a + wooden cage, made of logs bolted together and filled with spikes, nine + feet by ten feet square and perhaps seven or eight feet high. Between this + cage and the wall is a space of eighteen inches in width. It has a narrow + door, and an opening through which the food is passed to the prisoners, + and a conduit leading out of it. Of course it soon becomes foul, and in + warm weather somewhat warm. A recent prisoner, who wanted more ventilation + than the State allowed him, found some means, by a loose plank, I think, + to batter a hole in the outer wall opposite the window in the cage, and + this ragged opening, seeming to the jailer a good sanitary arrangement, + remains. Two murderers occupied this apartment at the time of our visit. + During the recent session of court, ten men had been confined in this + narrow space, without room enough for them to lie down together. The cage + in the room above, a little larger, had for tenant a person who was jailed + for some misunderstanding about an account, and who was probably innocent—from + the jailer's statement. This box is a wretched residence, month after + month, while awaiting trial. + </p> + <p> + We learned on inquiry that it is practically impossible to get a jury to + convict of murder in this region, and that these admitted felons would + undoubtedly escape. We even heard that juries were purchasable here, and + that a man's success in court depended upon the length of his purse. This + is such an unheard-of thing that we refused to credit it. When the Friend + attempted to arouse the indignation of the Professor about the barbarity + of this jail, the latter defended it on the ground that as confinement was + the only punishment that murderers were likely to receive in this region, + it was well to make their detention disagreeable to them. But the Friend + did not like this wild-beast cage for men, and could only exclaim, + </p> + <p> + “Oh, murder! what crimes are done in thy name.” + </p> + <p> + If the comrades wished an adventure, they had a small one, more + interesting to them than to the public, the morning they left Bakersville + to ride to Burnsville, which sets itself up as the capital of Yancey. The + way for the first three miles lay down a small creek and in a valley + fairly settled, the houses, a store, and a grist-mill giving evidence of + the new enterprise of the region. When Toe River was reached, there was a + choice of routes. We might ford the Toe at that point, where the river was + wide, but shallow, and the crossing safe, and climb over the mountain by a + rough but sightly road, or descend the stream by a better road and ford + the river at a place rather dangerous to those unfamiliar with it. The + danger attracted us, but we promptly chose the hill road on account of the + views, for we were weary of the limited valley prospects. + </p> + <p> + The Toe River, even here, where it bears westward, is a very respectable + stream in size, and not to be trifled with after a shower. It gradually + turns northward, and, joining the Nollechucky, becomes part of the + Tennessee system. We crossed it by a long, diagonal ford, slipping and + sliding about on the round stones, and began the ascent of a steep hill. + The sun beat down unmercifully, the way was stony, and the horses did not + relish the weary climbing. The Professor, who led the way, not for the + sake of leadership, but to be the discoverer of laden blackberry bushes, + which began to offer occasional refreshment, discouraged by the + inhospitable road and perhaps oppressed by the moral backwardness of + things in general, cried out: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,— + As, to behold desert a beggar born, + And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, + And purest faith unhappily foresworn, + And gilded honor shamefully misplaced, + And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, + And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, + And strength by limping sway disabled, + And art made tongue-tied by authority, + And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, + And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, + And captive good attending captain ill: + Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, + Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.” + </pre> + <p> + In the midst of a lively discussion of this pessimistic view of the + inequalities of life, in which desert and capacity are so often put at + disadvantage by birth in beggarly conditions, and brazen assumption raises + the dust from its chariot wheels for modest merit to plod along in, the + Professor swung himself off his horse to attack a blackberry bush, and the + Friend, representing simple truth, and desirous of getting a wider + prospect, urged his horse up the hill. At the top he encountered a + stranger, on a sorrel horse, with whom he entered into conversation and + extracted all the discouragement the man had as to the road to Burnsville. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the view opened finely and extensively. There are few + exhilarations comparable to that of riding or walking along a high ridge, + and the spirits of the traveler rose many degrees above the point of + restful death, for which the Professor was crying when he encountered the + blackberry bushes. Luckily the Friend soon fell in with a like temptation, + and dismounted. He discovered something that spoiled his appetite for + berries. His coat, strapped on behind the saddle, had worked loose, the + pocket was open, and the pocket-book was gone. This was serious business. + For while the Professor was the cashier, and traveled like a Rothschild, + with large drafts, the Friend represented the sub-treasury. That very + morning, in response to inquiry as to the sinews of travel, the Friend had + displayed, without counting, a roll of bills. These bills had now + disappeared, and when the Friend turned back to communicate his loss, in + the character of needy nothing not trimm'd in jollity, he had a + sympathetic listener to the tale of woe. + </p> + <p> + Going back on such a journey is the woefulest experience, but retrace our + steps we must. Perhaps the pocket-book lay in the road not half a mile + back. But not in half a mile, or a mile, was it found. Probably, then, the + man on the sorrel horse had picked it up. But who was the man on the + sorrel horse, and where had he gone? Probably the coat worked loose in + crossing Toe River and the pocket-book had gone down-stream. The number of + probabilities was infinite, and each more plausible than the others as it + occurred to us. We inquired at every house we had passed on the way, we + questioned every one we met. At length it began to seem improbable that + any one would remember if he had picked up a pocketbook that morning. This + is just the sort of thing that slips an untrained memory. + </p> + <p> + At a post office or doctor's shop, or inn for drovers, it might be either + or neither, where several horses were tied to the fence, and a group of + men were tilted back in cane chairs on the veranda, we unfolded our + misfortune and made particular inquiries for a man on a sorrel horse. Yes, + such a man, David Thomas by name, had just ridden towards Bakersville. If + he had found the pocket-book, we would recover it. He was an honest man. + It might, however, fall into hands that would freeze to it. + </p> + <p> + Upon consultation, it was the general verdict that there were men in the + county who would keep it if they had picked it up. But the assembly + manifested the liveliest interest in the incident. One suggested Toe + River. Another thought it risky to drop a purse on any road. But there was + a chorus of desire expressed that we should find it, and in this anxiety + was exhibited a decided sensitiveness about the honor of Mitchell County. + It seemed too bad that a stranger should go away with the impression that + it was not safe to leave money anywhere in it. We felt very much obliged + for this genuine sympathy, and we told them that if a pocket-book were + lost in this way on a Connecticut road, there would be felt no + neighborhood responsibility for it, and that nobody would take any + interest in the incident except the man who lost, and the man who found. + </p> + <p> + By the time the travelers pulled up at a store in Bakersville they had + lost all expectation of recovering the missing article, and were + discussing the investment of more money in an advertisement in the weekly + newspaper of the capital. The Professor, whose reform sentiments agreed + with those of the newspaper, advised it. There was a group of idlers, mica + acquaintances of the morning, and philosophers in front of the store, and + the Friend opened the colloquy by asking if a man named David Thomas had + been seen in town. He was in town, had ridden in within an hour, and his + brother, who was in the group, would go in search of him. The information + was then given of the loss, and that the rider had met David Thomas just + before it was discovered, on the mountain beyond the Toe. The news made a + sensation, and by the time David Thomas appeared a crowd of a hundred had + drawn around the horsemen eager for further developments. Mr. Thomas was + the least excited of the group as he took his position on the sidewalk, + conscious of the dignity of the occasion and that he was about to begin a + duel in which both reputation and profit were concerned. He recollected + meeting the travelers in the morning. + </p> + <p> + The Friend said, “I discovered that I had lost my purse just after meeting + you; it may have been dropped in Toe River, but I was told back here that + if David Thomas had picked it up, it was as safe as if it were in the + bank.” + </p> + <p> + “What sort of a pocket-book was it?” asked Mr. Thomas. + </p> + <p> + “It was of crocodile skin, or what is sold for that, very likely it is an + imitation, and about so large indicating the size.” + </p> + <p> + “What had it in it?” + </p> + <p> + “Various things. Some specimens of mica; some bank checks, some money.” + </p> + <p> + “Anything else?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a photograph. And, oh, something that I presume is not in another + pocket-book in North Carolina,—in an envelope, a lock of the hair of + George Washington, the Father of his Country.” Sensation mixed with + incredulity. Washington's hair did seem such an odd part of an outfit for + a journey of this kind. + </p> + <p> + “How much money was in it?” + </p> + <p> + “That I cannot say, exactly. I happen to remember four twenty-dollar + United States notes, and a roll of small bills, perhaps something over a + hundred dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that the pocket-book?” asked David Thomas, slowly pulling the loved + and lost out of his trousers pocket. + </p> + <p> + “It is.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd be willing to take your oath on it?” + </p> + <p> + “I should be delighted to.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I guess there ain't so much money in it. You can count it [handing + it over]; there hain't been nothing taken out. I can't read, but my friend + here counted it over, and he says there ain't as much as that.” + </p> + <p> + Intense interest in the result of the counting. One hundred and ten + dollars! The Friend selected one of the best engraved of the notes, and + appealed to the crowd if they thought that was the square thing to do. + They did so think, and David Thomas said it was abundant. And then said + the Friend: + </p> + <p> + “I'm exceedingly grateful to you besides. Washington's hair is getting + scarce, and I did not want to lose these few hairs, gray as they are. + You've done the honest thing, Mr. Thomas, as was expected of you. You + might have kept the whole. But I reckon if there had been five hundred + dollars in the book and you had kept it, it wouldn't have done you half as + much good as giving it up has done; and your reputation as an honest man + is worth a good deal more than this pocket-book. [The Professor was + delighted with this sentiment, because it reminded him of a + Sunday-school.] I shall go away with a high opinion of the honesty of + Mitchell County.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he lives in Yancey,” cried two or three voices. At which there was a + great laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wondered where he came from.” And the Mitchell County people + laughed again at their own expense, and the levee broke up. It was + exceedingly gratifying, as we spread the news of the recovered property + that afternoon at every house on our way to the Toe, to see what pleasure + it gave. Every man appeared to feel that the honor of the region had been + on trial—and had stood the test. + </p> + <p> + The eighteen miles to Burnsville had now to be added to the morning + excursion, but the travelers were in high spirits, feeling the truth of + the adage that it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have + lost at all. They decided, on reflection, to join company with the + mail-rider, who was going to Burnsville by the shorter route, and could + pilot them over the dangerous ford of the Toe. + </p> + <p> + The mail-rider was a lean, sallow, sinewy man, mounted on a sorry sorrel + nag, who proved, however, to have blood in her, and to be a fast walker + and full of endurance. The mail-rider was taciturn, a natural habit for a + man who rides alone the year round, over a lonely road, and has nothing + whatever to think of. He had been in the war sixteen months, in Hugh + White's regiment,—reckon you've heerd of him? + </p> + <p> + “Confederate?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “Was he on the Union or Confederate side?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Union.” + </p> + <p> + “Were you in any engagements?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “Did you have any fighting?” + </p> + <p> + “Not reg'lar.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you do?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “What did you do in Hugh White's regiment?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, just cavorted round the mountains.” + </p> + <p> + “You lived on the country?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “Picked up what you could find, corn, bacon, horses?” + </p> + <p> + “That's about so. Did n't make much difference which side was round, the + country got cleaned out.” + </p> + <p> + “Plunder seems to have been the object?” + </p> + <p> + “Which?” + </p> + <p> + “You got a living out of the farmers?” + </p> + <p> + “You bet.” + </p> + <p> + Our friend and guide seemed to have been a jayhawker and mountain marauder—on + the right side. His attachment to the word “which” prevented any lively + flow of conversation, and there seemed to be only two trains of ideas + running in his mind: one was the subject of horses and saddles, and the + other was the danger of the ford we were coming to, and he exhibited a + good deal of ingenuity in endeavoring to excite our alarm. He returned to + the ford from every other conversational excursion, and after every + silence. + </p> + <p> + “I do' know's there 's any great danger; not if you know the ford. Folks + is carried away there. The Toe gits up sudden. There's been right smart + rain lately. + </p> + <p> + “If you're afraid, you can git set over in a dugout, and I'll take your + horses across. Mebbe you're used to fording? It's a pretty bad ford for + them as don't know it. But you'll get along if you mind your eye. There's + some rocks you'll have to look out for. But you'll be all right if you + follow me.” + </p> + <p> + Not being very successful in raising an interest in the dangers of his + ford, although he could not forego indulging a malicious pleasure in + trying to make the strangers uncomfortable, he finally turned his + attention to a trade. “This hoss of mine,” he said, “is just the kind of + brute-beast you want for this country. Your hosses is too heavy. How'll + you swap for that one o' yourn?” The reiterated assertion that the horses + were not ours, that they were hired, made little impression on him. All + the way to Burnsville he kept referring to the subject of a trade. The + instinct of “swap” was strong in him. When we met a yoke of steers, he + turned round and bantered the owner for a trade. Our saddles took his + fancy. They were of the army pattern, and he allowed that one of them + would just suit him. He rode a small flat English pad, across which was + flung the United States mail pouch, apparently empty. He dwelt upon the + fact that his saddle was new and ours were old, and the advantages that + would accrue to us from the exchange. He did n't care if they had been + through the war, as they had, for he fancied an army saddle. The Friend + answered for himself that the saddle he rode belonged to a distinguished + Union general, and had a bullet in it that was put there by a careless + Confederate in the first battle of Bull Run, and the owner would not part + with it for money. But the mail-rider said he did n't mind that. He would + n't mind swapping his new saddle for my old one and the rubber coat and + leggings. Long before we reached the ford we thought we would like to swap + the guide, even at the risk of drowning. The ford was passed, in due time, + with no inconvenience save that of wet feet, for the stream was breast + high to the horses; but being broad and swift and full of sunken rocks and + slippery stones, and the crossing tortuous, it is not a ford to be + commended. There is a curious delusion that a rider has in crossing a + swift broad stream. It is that he is rapidly drifting up-stream, while in + fact the tendency of the horse is to go with the current. + </p> + <p> + The road in the afternoon was not unpicturesque, owing to the streams and + the ever noble forests, but the prospect was always very limited. + Agriculturally, the country was mostly undeveloped. The travelers + endeavored to get from the rider an estimate of the price of land. Not + much sold, he said. “There was one sale of a big piece last year; the + owner enthorited Big Tom Wilson to sell it, but I d'know what he got for + it.” + </p> + <p> + All the way along, the habitations were small log cabins, with one room, + chinked with mud, and these were far between; and only occasionally + thereby a similar log structure, unchinked, laid up like a cob house, that + served for a stable. Not much cultivation, except now and then a little + patch of poor corn on a steep hillside, occasionally a few apple-trees, + and a peach-tree without fruit. Here and there was a house that had been + half finished and then abandoned, or a shanty in which a couple of young + married people were just beginning life. Generally the cabins (confirming + the accuracy of the census of 1880) swarmed with children, and nearly all + the women were thin and sickly. + </p> + <p> + In the day's ride we did not see a wheeled vehicle, and only now and then + a horse. We met on the road small sleds, drawn by a steer, sometimes by a + cow, on which a bag of grist was being hauled to the mill, and boys + mounted on steers gave us good-evening with as much pride as if they were + bestriding fiery horses. + </p> + <p> + In a house of the better class, which was a post-house, and where the + rider and the woman of the house had a long consultation over a letter to + be registered, we found the rooms decorated with patent-medicine pictures, + which were often framed in strips of mica, an evidence of culture that was + worth noting. Mica was the rage. Every one with whom we talked, except the + rider, had more or less the mineral fever. The impression was general that + the mountain region of North Carolina was entering upon a career of + wonderful mineral development, and the most extravagant expectations were + entertained. Mica was the shining object of most “prospecting,” but gold + was also on the cards. + </p> + <p> + The country about Burnsville is not only mildly picturesque, but very + pleasing. Burnsville, the county-seat of Yancey, at an elevation of 2840 + feet, is more like a New England village than any hitherto seen. Most of + the houses stand about a square, which contains the shabby court-house; + around it are two small churches, a jail, an inviting tavern with a long + veranda, and a couple of stores. On an overlooking hill is the seminary. + Mica mining is the exciting industry, but it is agriculturally a good + country. The tavern had recently been enlarged to meet the new demands for + entertainment and is a roomy structure, fresh with paint and only + partially organized. The travelers were much impressed with the brilliant + chambers, the floors of which were painted in alternate stripes of vivid + green and red. The proprietor, a very intelligent and enterprising man, + who had traveled often in the North, was full of projects for the + development of his region and foremost in its enterprises, and had formed + a considerable collection of minerals. Besides, more than any one else we + met, he appreciated the beauty of his country, and took us to a + neighboring hill, where we had a view of Table Mountain to the east and + the nearer giant Blacks. The elevation of Burnsville gives it a delightful + summer climate, the gentle undulations of the country are agreeable, the + views noble, the air is good, and it is altogether a “livable” and + attractive place. With facilities of communication, it would be a favorite + summer resort. Its nearness to the great mountains (the whole Black range + is in Yancey County), its fine pure air, its opportunity for fishing and + hunting, commend it to those in search of an interesting and restful + retreat in summer. + </p> + <p> + But it should be said that before the country can attract and retain + travelers, its inhabitants must learn something about the preparation of + food. If, for instance, the landlord's wife at Burnsville had traveled + with her husband, her table would probably have been more on a level with + his knowledge of the world, and it would have contained something that the + wayfaring man, though a Northerner, could eat. We have been on the point + several times in this journey of making the observation, but have been + restrained by a reluctance to touch upon politics, that it was no wonder + that a people with such a cuisine should have rebelled. The travelers were + in a rebellious mood most of the time. + </p> + <p> + The evidences of enterprise in this region were pleasant to see, but the + observers could not but regret, after all, the intrusion of the + money-making spirit, which is certain to destroy much of the present + simplicity. It is as yet, to a degree, tempered by a philosophic spirit. + The other guest of the house was a sedate, long-bearded traveler for some + Philadelphia house, and in the evening he and the landlord fell into a + conversation upon what Socrates calls the disadvantage of the pursuit of + wealth to the exclusion of all noble objects, and they let their fancy + play about Vanderbilt, who was agreed to be the richest man in the world, + or that ever lived. + </p> + <p> + “All I want,” said the long-bearded man, “is enough to be comfortable. I + would n't have Vanderbilt's wealth if he'd give it to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor I,” said the landlord. “Give me just enough to be comfortable.” [The + tourist couldn't but note that his ideas of enough to be comfortable had + changed a good deal since he had left his little farm and gone into the + mica business, and visited New York, and enlarged and painted his tavern.] + “I should like to know what more Vanderbilt gets out of his money than I + get out of mine. I heard tell of a young man who went to Vanderbilt to get + employment. Vanderbilt finally offered to give the young man, if he would + work for him, just what he got himself. The young man jumped at that—he'd + be perfectly satisfied with that pay. And Vanderbilt said that all he got + was what he could eat and wear, and offered to give the young man his + board and clothes.” + </p> + <p> + “I declare” said the long-bearded man. “That's just it. Did you ever see + Vanderbilt's house? Neither did I, but I heard he had a vault built in it + five feet thick, solid. He put in it two hundred millions of dollars, in + gold. After a year, he opened it and put in twelve millions more, and + called that a poor year. They say his house has gold shutters to the + windows, so I've heard.” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't wonder,” said the landlord. “I heard he had one door in his + house cost forty thousand dollars. I don't know what it is made of, unless + it's made of gold.” + </p> + <p> + Sunday was a hot and quiet day. The stores were closed and the two + churches also, this not being the Sunday for the itinerant preacher. The + jail also showed no sign of life, and when we asked about it, we learned + that it was empty, and had been for some time. No liquor is sold in the + place, nor within at least three miles of it. It is not much use to try to + run a jail without liquor. + </p> + <p> + In the course of the morning a couple of stout fellows arrived, leading + between them a young man whom they had arrested,—it didn't appear on + any warrant, but they wanted to get him committed and locked up. The + offense charged was carrying a pistol; the boy had not used it against + anybody, but he had flourished it about and threatened, and the neighbors + wouldn't stand that; they were bound to enforce the law against carrying + concealed weapons. + </p> + <p> + The captors were perfectly good-natured and on friendly enough terms with + the young man, who offered no resistance, and seemed not unwilling to go + to jail. But a practical difficulty arose. The jail was locked up, the + sheriff had gone away into the country with the key, and no one could get + in. It did not appear that there was any provision for boarding the man in + jail; no one in fact kept it. The sheriff was sent for, but was not to be + found, and the prisoner and his captors loafed about the square all day, + sitting on the fence, rolling on the grass, all of them sustained by a + simple trust that the jail would be open some time. + </p> + <p> + Late in the afternoon we left them there, trying to get into the jail. But + we took a personal leaf out of this experience. Our Virginia friends, + solicitous for our safety in this wild country, had urged us not to + venture into it without arms—take at least, they insisted, a + revolver each. And now we had to congratulate ourselves that we had not + done so. If we had, we should doubtless on that Sunday have been waiting, + with the other law-breaker, for admission into the Yancey County jail. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III + </h2> + <p> + From Burnsville the next point in our route was Asheville, the most + considerable city in western North Carolina, a resort of fashion, and the + capital of Buncombe County. It is distant some forty to forty-five miles, + too long a journey for one day over such roads. The easier and common + route is by the Ford of Big Ivy, eighteen miles, the first stopping-place; + and that was a long ride for the late afternoon when we were in condition + to move. + </p> + <p> + The landlord suggested that we take another route, stay that night on + Caney River with Big Tom Wilson, only eight miles from Burnsville, cross + Mount Mitchell, and go down the valley of the Swannanoa to Asheville. He + represented this route as shorter and infinitely more picturesque. There + was nothing worth seeing on the Big Ivy way. With scarcely a moment's + reflection and while the horses were saddling, we decided to ride to Big + Tom Wilson's. I could not at the time understand, and I cannot now, why + the Professor consented. I should hardly dare yet confess to my fixed + purpose to ascend Mount Mitchell. It was equally fixed in the Professor's + mind not to do it. We had not discussed it much. But it is safe to say + that if he had one well-defined purpose on this trip, it was not to climb + Mitchell. “Not,” as he put it,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul + Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,” + </pre> + <p> + had suggested the possibility that he could do it. + </p> + <p> + But at the moment the easiest thing to do seemed to be to ride down to + Wilson's. When there we could turn across country to the Big Ivy, + although, said the landlord, you can ride over Mitchell just as easy as + anywhere—a lady rode plump over the peak of it last week, and never + got off her horse. You are not obliged to go; at Big Tom's, you can go any + way you please. + </p> + <p> + Besides, Big Tom himself weighed in the scale more than Mount Mitchell, + and not to see him was to miss one of the most characteristic productions + of the country, the typical backwoodsman, hunter, guide. So we rode down + Bolling Creek, through a pretty, broken country, crossed the Caney River, + and followed it up a few miles to Wilson's plantation. There are little + intervales along the river, where hay is cut and corn grown, but the + region is not much cleared, and the stock browse about in the forest. + Wilson is the agent of the New York owner of a tract of some thirteen + thousand acres of forest, including the greater portion of Mount Mitchell, + a wilderness well stocked with bears and deer, and full of streams + abounding in trout. It is also the playground of the rattlesnake. With all + these attractions Big Tom's life is made lively in watching game poachers, + and endeavoring to keep out the foraging cattle of the few neighbors. It + is not that the cattle do much injury in the forest, but the looking after + them is made a pretense for roaming around, and the roamers are liable to + have to defend themselves against the deer, or their curiosity is excited + about the bears, and lately they have taken to exploding powder in the + streams to kill the fish. + </p> + <p> + Big Tom's plantation has an openwork stable, an ill-put-together frame + house, with two rooms and a kitchen, and a veranda in front, a loft, and a + spring-house in the rear. Chickens and other animals have free run of the + premises. Some fish-rods hung in the porch, and hunter's gear depended on + hooks in the passage-way to the kitchen. In one room were three beds, in + the other two, only one in the kitchen. On the porch was a loom, with a + piece of cloth in process. The establishment had the air of taking care of + itself. Neither Big Tom nor his wife was at home. Sunday seemed to be a + visiting day, and the travelers had met many parties on horseback. Mrs. + Wilson was away for a visit of a day or two. One of the sons, who was + lounging on the veranda, was at last induced to put up the horses; a very + old woman, who mumbled and glared at the visitors, was found in the + kitchen, but no intelligible response could be got out of her. Presently a + bright little girl, the housekeeper in charge, appeared. She said that her + paw had gone up to her brother's (her brother was just married and lived + up the river in the house where Mr. Murchison stayed when he was here) to + see if he could ketch a bear that had been rootin' round in the corn-field + the night before. She expected him back by sundown—by dark anyway. + 'Les he'd gone after the bear, and then you could n't tell when he would + come. + </p> + <p> + It appeared that Big Tom was a thriving man in the matter of family. More + boys appeared. Only one was married, but four had “got their time.” As + night approached, and no Wilson, there was a good deal of lively and loud + conversation about the stock and the chores, in all of which the girl took + a leading and intelligent part, showing a willingness to do her share, but + not to have all the work put upon her. It was time to go down the road and + hunt up the cows; the mule had disappeared and must be found before dark; + a couple of steers hadn't turned up since the day before yesterday, and in + the midst of the gentle contention as to whose business all this was, + there was an alarm of cattle in the corn-patch, and the girl started off + on a run in that direction. It was due to the executive ability of this + small girl, after the cows had been milked and the mule chased and the + boys properly stirred up, that we had supper. It was of the oilcloth, iron + fork, tin spoon, bacon, hot bread and honey variety, distinguished, + however, from all meals we had endured or enjoyed before by the + introduction of fried eggs (as the breakfast next morning was by the + presence of chicken), and it was served by the active maid with right + hearty good-will and genuine hospitable intent. + </p> + <p> + While it was in progress, after nine o'clock, Big Tom arrived, and, with a + simple greeting, sat down and attacked the supper and began to tell about + the bear. There was not much to tell except that he hadn't seen the bear, + and that, judged by his tracks and his sloshing around, he must be a big + one. But a trap had been set for him, and he judged it wouldn't be long + before we had some bear meat. Big Tom Wilson, as he is known all over this + part of the State, would not attract attention from his size. He is six + feet and two inches tall, very spare and muscular, with sandy hair, long + gray beard, and honest blue eyes. He has a reputation for great strength + and endurance; a man of native simplicity and mild manners. He had been + rather expecting us from what Mr. Murchison wrote; he wrote (his son had + read out the letter) that Big Tom was to take good care of us, and anybody + that Mr. Murchison sent could have the best he'd got. + </p> + <p> + Big Tom joined us in our room after supper. This apartment, with two + mighty feather-beds, was hung about with all manner of stuffy family + clothes, and had in one end a vast cavern for a fire. The floor was + uneven, and the hearthstones billowy. When the fire was lighted, the + effect of the bright light in the cavern and the heavy shadows in the room + was Rembrandtish. Big Tom sat with us before the fire and told bear + stories. Talk? Why, it was not the least effort. The stream flowed on + without a ripple. “Why, the old man,” one of the sons confided to us next + morning, “can begin and talk right over Mount Mitchell and all the way + back, and never make a break.” Though Big Tom had waged a lifelong warfare + with the bears, and taken the hide off at least a hundred of them, I could + not see that he had any vindictive feeling towards the varmint, but simply + an insatiable love of killing him, and he regarded him in that + half-humorous light in which the bear always appears to those who study + him. As to deer—he couldn't tell how many of them he had slain. But + Big Tom was a gentleman: he never killed deer for mere sport. With + rattlesnakes, now, it was different. There was the skin of one hanging + upon a tree by the route we would take in the morning, a buster, he + skinned him yesterday. There was an entire absence, of braggadocio in Big + Tom's talk, but somehow, as he went on, his backwoods figure loomed larger + and larger in our imagination, and he seemed strangely familiar. At length + it came over us where we had met him before. It was in Cooper's novels. He + was the Leather-Stocking exactly. And yet he was an original; for he + assured us that he had never read the Leather-Stocking Tales. What a + figure, I was thinking, he must have made in the late war! Such a shot, + such a splendid physique, such iron endurance! I almost dreaded to hear + his tales of the havoc he had wrought on the Union army. Yes, he was in + the war, he was sixteen months in the Confederate army, this Homeric man. + In what rank? “Oh, I was a fifer!” + </p> + <p> + But hunting and war did not by any means occupy the whole of Big Tom's + life. He was also engaged in “lawin'.” He had a long-time feud with a + neighbor about a piece of land and alleged trespass, and they'd been + “lawin'” for years, with no definite result; but as a topic of + conversation it was as fully illustrative of frontier life as the + bear-fighting. + </p> + <p> + Long after we had all gone to bed, we heard Big Tom's continuous voice, + through the thin partition that separated us from the kitchen, going on to + his little boy about the bear; every circumstance of how he tracked him, + and what corner of the field he entered, and where he went out, and his + probable size and age, and the prospect of his coming again; these were + the details of real everyday life, and worthy to be dwelt on by the hour. + The boy was never tired of pursuing them. And Big Tom was just a big boy, + also, in his delight in it all. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was the fascination of Big Tom, perhaps the representation that + we were already way off the Big Ivy route, and that it would, in fact, + save time to go over the mountain and we could ride all the way, that made + the Professor acquiesce, with no protest worth noticing, in the + preparations that went on, as by a natural assumption, for going over + Mitchell. At any rate, there was an early breakfast, luncheon was put up, + and by half-past seven we were riding up the Caney,—a half-cloudy + day,—Big Tom swinging along on foot ahead, talking nineteen to the + dozen. There was a delightful freshness in the air, the dew-laden bushes, + and the smell of the forest. In half an hour we called at the hunting + shanty of Mr. Murchison, wrote our names on the wall, according to custom, + and regretted that we could not stay for a day in that retreat and try the + speckled trout. Making our way through the low growth and bushes of the + valley, we came into a fine open forest, watered by a noisy brook, and + after an hour's easy going reached the serious ascent. + </p> + <p> + From Wilson's to the peak of Mitchell it is seven and a half miles; we + made it in five and a half hours. A bridle path was cut years ago, but it + has been entirely neglected. It is badly washed, it is stony, muddy, and + great trees have fallen across it which wholly block the way for horses. + At these places long detours were necessary, on steep hillsides and + through gullies, over treacherous sink-holes in the rocks, through quaggy + places, heaps of brush, and rotten logs. Those who have ever attempted to + get horses over such ground will not wonder at the slow progress we made. + Before we were halfway up the ascent, we realized the folly of attempting + it on horseback; but then to go on seemed as easy as to go back. The way + was also exceedingly steep in places, and what with roots, and logs, and + slippery rocks and stones, it was a desperate climb for the horses. + </p> + <p> + What a magnificent forest! Oaks, chestnuts, Poplars, hemlocks, the + cucumber (a species of magnolia, with a pinkish, cucumber-like cone), and + all sorts of northern and southern growths meeting here in splendid array. + And this gigantic forest, with little diminution in size of trees, + continued two thirds of the way up. We marked, as we went on, the maple, + the black walnut, the buckeye, the hickory, the locust, and the guide + pointed out in one section the largest cherry-trees we had ever seen; + splendid trunks, each worth a large sum if it could be got to market. + After the great trees were left behind, we entered a garden of white + birches, and then a plateau of swamp, thick with raspberry bushes, and + finally the ridges, densely crowded with the funereal black balsam. + </p> + <p> + Halfway up, Big Tom showed us his favorite, the biggest tree he knew. It + was a poplar, or tulip. It stands more like a column than a tree, rising + high into the air, with scarcely a perceptible taper, perhaps sixty, more + likely a hundred, feet before it puts out a limb. + </p> + <p> + Its girth six feet from the ground is thirty-two feet! I think it might be + called Big Tom. It stood here, of course, a giant, when Columbus sailed + from Spain, and perhaps some sentimental traveler will attach the name of + Columbus to it. + </p> + <p> + In the woods there was not much sign of animal life, scarcely the note of + a bird, but we noticed as we rode along in the otherwise primeval silence + a loud and continuous humming overhead, almost like the sound of the wind + in pine tops. It was the humming of bees! The upper branches were alive + with these industrious toilers, and Big Tom was always on the alert to + discover and mark a bee-gum, which he could visit afterwards. Honey + hunting is one of his occupations. Collecting spruce gum is another, and + he was continually hacking off with his hatchet knobs of the translucent + secretion. How rich and fragrant are these forests! The rhododendron was + still in occasional bloom' and flowers of brilliant hue gleamed here and + there. + </p> + <p> + The struggle was more severe as we neared the summit, and the footing + worse for the horses. Occasionally it was safest to dismount and lead them + up slippery ascents; but this was also dangerous, for it was difficult to + keep them from treading on our heels, in their frantic flounderings, in + the steep, wet, narrow, brier-grown path. At one uncommonly pokerish + place, where the wet rock sloped into a bog, the rider of Jack thought it + prudent to dismount, but Big Tom insisted that Jack would “make it” all + right, only give him his head. The rider gave him his head, and the next + minute Jack's four heels were in the air, and he came down on his side in + a flash. The rider fortunately extricated his leg without losing it, Jack + scrambled out with a broken shoe, and the two limped along. It was a + wonder that the horses' legs were not broken a dozen times. + </p> + <p> + As we approached the top, Big Tom pointed out the direction, a half mile + away, of a small pond, a little mountain tarn, overlooked by a ledge of + rock, where Professor Mitchell lost his life. Big Tom was the guide that + found his body. That day, as we sat on the summit, he gave in great detail + the story, the general outline of which is well known. + </p> + <p> + The first effort to measure the height of the Black Mountains was made in + 1835, by Professor Elisha Mitchell, professor of mathematics and chemistry + in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Mitchell was a + native of Connecticut, born in Washington, Litchfield County, in 1793; + graduated at Yale, ordained a Presbyterian minister, and was for a time + state surveyor; and became a professor at Chapel Hill in 1818. He first + ascertained and published the fact that the Black Mountains are the + highest land east of the Rocky Mountains. In 1844 he visited the locality + again. Measurements were subsequently made by Professor Guyot and by + Senator Clingman. One of the peaks was named for the senator (the one next + in height to Mitchell is described as Clingman on the state map), and a + dispute arose as to whether Mitchell had really visited and measured the + highest peak. Senator Clingman still maintains that he did not, and that + the peak now known as Mitchell is the one that Clingman first described. + The estimates of altitudes made by the three explorers named differed + considerably. The height now fixed for Mount Mitchell is 6711; that of + Mount Washington is 6285. There are twelve peaks in this range higher than + Mount Washington, and if we add those in the Great Smoky Mountains which + overtop it, there are some twenty in this State higher than the granite + giant of New Hampshire. + </p> + <p> + In order to verify his statement, Professor Mitchell (then in his + sixty-fourth year) made a third ascent in June, 1857. He was alone, and + went up from the Swannanoa side. He did not return. No anxiety was felt + for two or three days, as he was a good mountaineer, and it was supposed + he had crossed the mountain and made his way out by the Caney River. But + when several days passed without tidings of him, a search party was + formed. Big Tom Wilson was with it. They explored the mountain in all + directions unsuccessfully. At length Big Tom separated himself from his + companions and took a course in accordance with his notion of that which + would be pursued by a man lost in the clouds or the darkness. He soon + struck the trail of the wanderer, and, following it, discovered Mitchell's + body lying in a pool at the foot of a rocky precipice some thirty feet + high. It was evident that Mitchell, making his way along the ridge in + darkness or fog, had fallen off. It was the ninth (or the eleventh) day of + his disappearance, but in the pure mountain air the body had suffered no + change. Big Tom brought his companions to the place, and on consultation + it was decided to leave the body undisturbed till Mitchell's friends could + be present. + </p> + <p> + There was some talk of burying him on the mountain, but the friends + decided otherwise, and the remains, with much difficulty, were got down to + Asheville and there interred. + </p> + <p> + Some years afterwards, I believe at the instance of a society of + scientists, it was resolved to transport the body to the summit of Mount + Mitchell; for the tragic death of the explorer had forever settled in the + popular mind the name of the mountain. The task was not easy. A road had + to be cut, over which a sledge could be hauled, and the hardy mountaineers + who undertook the removal were three days in reaching the summit with + their burden. The remains were accompanied by a considerable concourse, + and the last rites on the top were participated in by a hundred or more + scientists and prominent men from different parts of the State. Such a + strange cortege had never before broken the silence of this lonely + wilderness, nor was ever burial more impressive than this wild interment + above the clouds. + </p> + <p> + We had been preceded in our climb all the way by a huge bear. That he was + huge, a lunker, a monstrous old varmint, Big Tom knew by the size of his + tracks; that he was making the ascent that morning ahead of us, Big Tom + knew by the freshness of the trail. We might come upon him at any moment; + he might be in the garden; was quite likely to be found in the raspberry + patch. That we did not encounter him I am convinced was not the fault of + Big Tom, but of the bear. + </p> + <p> + After a struggle of five hours we emerged from the balsams and briers into + a lovely open meadow, of lush clover, timothy, and blue grass. We + unsaddled the horses and turned them loose to feed in it. The meadow + sloped up to a belt of balsams and firs, a steep rocky knob, and climbing + that on foot we stood upon the summit of Mitchell at one o'clock. We were + none too soon, for already the clouds were preparing for what appears to + be a daily storm at this season. + </p> + <p> + The summit is a nearly level spot of some thirty or forty feet in extent + either way, with a floor of rock and loose stones. The stunted balsams + have been cut away so as to give a view. The sweep of prospect is vast, + and we could see the whole horizon except in the direction of Roan, whose + long bulk was enveloped in cloud. Portions of six States were in sight, we + were told, but that is merely a geographical expression. What we saw, + wherever we looked, was an inextricable tumble of mountains, without order + or leading line of direction,—domes, peaks, ridges, endless and + countless, everywhere, some in shadow, some tipped with shafts of + sunlight, all wooded and green or black, and all in more softened contours + than our Northern hills, but still wild, lonesome, terrible. Away in the + southwest, lifting themselves up in a gleam of the western sky, the Great + Smoky Mountains loomed like a frowning continental fortress, sullen and + remote. With Clingman and Gibbs and Holdback peaks near at hand and + apparently of equal height, Mitchell seemed only a part and not separate + from the mighty congregation of giants. + </p> + <p> + In the center of the stony plot on the summit lie the remains of Mitchell. + To dig a grave in the rock was impracticable, but the loose stones were + scooped away to the depth of a foot or so, the body was deposited, and the + stones were replaced over it. It was the original intention to erect a + monument, but the enterprise of the projectors of this royal entombment + failed at that point. The grave is surrounded by a low wall of loose + stones, to which each visitor adds one, and in the course of ages the + cairn may grow to a good size. The explorer lies there without name or + headstone to mark his awful resting-place. The mountain is his monument. + He is alone with its majesty. He is there in the clouds, in the tempests, + where the lightnings play, and thunders leap, amid the elemental tumult, + in the occasional great calm and silence and the pale sunlight. It is the + most majestic, the most lonesome grave on earth. + </p> + <p> + As we sat there, awed a little by this presence, the clouds were gathering + from various quarters and drifting towards us. We could watch the process + of thunder-storms and the manufacture of tempests. I have often noticed on + other high mountains how the clouds, forming like genii released from the + earth, mount into the upper air, and in masses of torn fragments of mist + hurry across the sky as to a rendezvous of witches. This was a different + display. These clouds came slowly sailing from the distant horizon, like + ships on an aerial voyage. Some were below us, some on our level; they + were all in well-defined, distinct masses, molten silver on deck, below + trailing rain, and attended on earth by gigantic shadows that moved with + them. This strange fleet of battle-ships, drifted by the shifting + currents, was maneuvering for an engagement. One after another, as they + came into range about our peak of observation, they opened fire. Sharp + flashes of lightning darted from one to the other; a jet of flame from one + leaped across the interval and was buried in the bosom of its adversary; + and at every discharge the boom of great guns echoed through the + mountains. It was something more than a royal salute to the tomb of the + mortal at our feet, for the masses of cloud were rent in the fray, at + every discharge the rain was precipitated in increasing torrents, and soon + the vast hulks were trailing torn fragments and wreaths of mist, like the + shot-away shrouds and sails of ships in battle. Gradually, from this + long-range practice with single guns and exchange of broadsides, they + drifted into closer conflict, rushed together, and we lost sight of the + individual combatants in the general tumult of this aerial war. + </p> + <p> + We had barely twenty minutes for our observations, when it was time to go; + and had scarcely left the peak when the clouds enveloped it. We hastened + down under the threatening sky to the saddles and the luncheon. Just off + from the summit, amid the rocks, is a complete arbor, or tunnel, of + rhododendrons. This cavernous place a Western writer has made the scene of + a desperate encounter between Big Tom and a catamount, or American + panther, which had been caught in a trap and dragged it there, pursued by + Wilson. It is an exceedingly graphic narrative, and is enlivened by the + statement that Big Tom had the night before drunk up all the whisky of the + party which had spent the night on the summit. Now Big Tom assured us that + the whisky part of the story was an invention; he was not (which is true) + in the habit of using it; if he ever did take any, it might be a drop on + Mitchell; in fact, when he inquired if we had a flask, he remarked that a + taste of it would do him good then and there. We regretted the lack of it + in our baggage. But what inclined Big Tom to discredit the Western + writer's story altogether was the fact that he never in his life had had a + difficulty with a catamount, and never had seen one in these mountains. + </p> + <p> + Our lunch was eaten in haste. Big Tom refused the chicken he had provided + for us, and strengthened himself with slices of raw salt pork, which he + cut from a hunk with his clasp-knife. We caught and saddled our horses, + who were reluctant to leave the rich feed, enveloped ourselves in + waterproofs, and got into the stony path for the descent just as the + torrent came down. It did rain. It lightened, the thunder crashed, the + wind howled and twisted the treetops. It was as if we were pursued by the + avenging spirits of the mountains for our intrusion. Such a tempest on + this height had its terrors even for our hardy guide. He preferred to be + lower down while it was going on. The crash and reverberation of the + thunder did not trouble us so much as the swish of the wet branches in our + faces and the horrible road, with its mud, tripping roots, loose stones, + and slippery rocks. Progress was slow. The horses were in momentary danger + of breaking their legs. In the first hour there was not much descent. In + the clouds we were passing over Clingman, Gibbs, and Holdback. The rain + had ceased, but the mist still shut off all view, if any had been + attainable, and bushes and paths were deluged. The descent was more + uncomfortable than the ascent, and we were compelled a good deal of the + way to lead the jaded horses down the slippery rocks. + </p> + <p> + From the peak to the Widow Patten's, where we proposed to pass the night, + is twelve miles, a distance we rode or scrambled down, every step of the + road bad, in five and a half hours. Halfway down we came out upon a + cleared place, a farm, with fruit-trees and a house in ruins. Here had + been a summer hotel much resorted to before the war, but now abandoned. + Above it we turned aside for the view from Elizabeth rock, named from the + daughter of the proprietor of the hotel, who often sat here, said Big Tom, + before she went out of this world. It is a bold rocky ledge, and the view + from it, looking south, is unquestionably the finest, the most pleasing + and picture-like, we found in these mountains. In the foreground is the + deep gorge of a branch of the Swannanoa, and opposite is the great wall of + the Blue Ridge (the Blue Ridge is the most capricious and inexplicable + system) making off to the Blacks. The depth of the gorge, the sweep of the + sky line, and the reposeful aspect of the scene to the sunny south made + this view both grand and charming. Nature does not always put the needed + dash of poetry into her extensive prospects. + </p> + <p> + Leaving this clearing and the now neglected spring, where fashion used to + slake its thirst, we zigzagged down the mountain-side through a forest of + trees growing at every step larger and nobler, and at length struck a + small stream, the North Fork of the Swannanoa, which led us to the first + settlement. Just at night,—it was nearly seven o'clock,—we + entered one of the most stately forests I have ever seen, and rode for + some distance in an alley of rhododendrons that arched overhead and made a + bower. It was like an aisle in a temple; high overhead was the somber, + leafy roof, supported by gigantic columns. Few widows have such an avenue + of approach to their domain as the Widow Patten has. + </p> + <p> + Cheering as this outcome was from the day's struggle and storm, the + Professor seemed sunk in a profound sadness. The auguries which the Friend + drew from these signs of civilization of a charming inn and a royal supper + did not lighten the melancholy of his mind. “Alas,” he said, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, + And make me travel forth without my cloak, + To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way, + Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke? + 'T is not enough that through the cloud thou break, + To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, + For no man well of such a salve can speak + That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace: + Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief: + Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss.” + </pre> + <p> + “Loss of what?” cried the Friend, as he whipped up his halting steed. + </p> + <p> + “Loss of self-respect. I feel humiliated that I consented to climb this + mountain.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense! You'll live to thank me for it, as the best thing you ever did. + It's over and done now, and you've got it to tell your friends.” + </p> + <p> + “That's just the trouble. They'll ask me if I went up Mitchell, and I + shall have to say I did. My character for consistency is gone. Not that I + care much what they think, but my own self-respect is gone. I never + believed I would do it. A man ca'nt afford to lower himself in his own + esteem, at my time of life.” + </p> + <p> + The Widow Patten's was only an advanced settlement in this narrow valley + on the mountain-side, but a little group of buildings, a fence, and a gate + gave it the air of a place, and it had once been better cared for than it + is now. Few travelers pass that way, and the art of entertaining, if it + ever existed, is fallen into desuetude. We unsaddled at the veranda, and + sat down to review our adventure, make the acquaintance of the family, and + hear the last story from Big Tom. The mountaineer, though wet, was as + fresh as a daisy, and fatigue in no wise checked the easy, cheerful flow + of his talk. He was evidently a favorite with his neighbors, and not + unpleasantly conscious of the extent of his reputation. But he encountered + here another social grade. The Widow Patten was highly connected. We were + not long in discovering that she was an Alexander. She had been a + schoolmate of Senator Vance,—“Zeb Vance” he still was to her,—and + the senator and his wife had stayed at her house. I wish I could say that + the supper, for which we waited till nine o'clock, was as “highly + connected” as the landlady. It was, however, a supper that left its + memory. We were lodged in a detached house, which we had to ourselves, + where a roaring wood fire made amends for other things lacking. It was + necessary to close the doors to keep out the wandering cows and pigs, and + I am bound to say that, notwithstanding the voices of the night, we slept + there the sleep of peace. + </p> + <p> + In the morning a genuine surprise awaited us; it seemed impossible, but + the breakfast was many degrees worse than the supper; and when we paid our + bill, large for the region, we were consoled by the thought that we paid + for the high connection as well as for the accommodations. This is a + regular place of entertainment, and one is at liberty to praise it without + violation of delicacy. + </p> + <p> + The broken shoe of Jack required attention, and we were all the morning + hunting a blacksmith, as we rode down the valley. Three blacksmith's + shanties were found, and after long waiting to send for the operator it + turned out in each case that he had no shoes, no nails, no iron to make + either of. We made a detour of three miles to what was represented as a + regular shop. The owner had secured the service of a colored blacksmith + for a special job, and was, not inclined to accommodate us; he had no + shoes, no nails. But the colored blacksmith, who appreciated the plight we + were in, offered to make a shoe, and to crib four nails from those he had + laid aside for a couple of mules; and after a good deal of delay, we were + enabled to go on. The incident shows, as well as anything, the barrenness + and shiftlessness of the region. A horseman with whom we rode in the + morning gave us a very low estimate of the trustworthiness of the + inhabitants. The valley is wild and very pretty all the way down to + Colonel Long's,—twelve miles,—but the wretched-looking people + along the way live in a wretched manner. + </p> + <p> + Just before reaching Colonel Long's we forded the stream (here of good + size), the bridge having tumbled down, and encountered a party of + picnickers under the trees—signs of civilization; a railway station + is not far off. Colonel Long's is a typical Southern establishment: a + white house, or rather three houses, all of one story, built on to each + other as beehives are set in a row, all porches and galleries. No one at + home but the cook, a rotund, broad-faced woman, with a merry eye, whose + very appearance suggested good cooking and hospitality; the Missis and the + children had gone up to the river fishing; the Colonel was somewhere about + the place; always was away when he was wanted. Guess he'd take us in, + mighty fine man the Colonel; and she dispatched a child from a cabin in + the rear to hunt him up. The Colonel was a great friend of her folks down + to Greenville; they visited here. Law, no, she didn't live here. Was just + up here spending the summer, for her health. God-forsaken lot of people up + here, poor trash. She wouldn't stay here a day, but the Colonel was a + friend of her folks, the firstest folks in Greenville. Nobody round here + she could 'sociate with. She was a Presbyterian, the folks round here + mostly Baptists and Methodists. More style about the Presbyterians. + Married? No, she hoped not. She did n't want to support no husband. Got + 'nuff to do to take care of herself. That her little girl? No; she'd only + got one child, down to Greenville, just the prettiest boy ever was, as + white as anybody. How did she what? reconcile this state of things with + not being married and being a Presbyterian? Sho! she liked to carry some + religion along; it was mighty handy occasionally, mebbe not all the time. + Yes, indeed, she enjoyed her religion. + </p> + <p> + The Colonel appeared and gave us a most cordial welcome. The fat and merry + cook blustered around and prepared a good dinner, memorable for its + “light” bread, the first we had seen since Cranberry Forge. The Colonel is + in some sense a public man, having been a mail agent, and a Republican. He + showed us photographs and engravings of Northern politicians, and had the + air of a man who had been in Washington. This was a fine country for any + kind of fruit,—apples, grapes, pears; it needed a little Northern + enterprise to set things going. The travelers were indebted to the Colonel + for a delightful noonday rest, and with regret declined his pressing + invitation to pass the night with him. + </p> + <p> + The ride down the Swannanoa to Asheville was pleasant, through a + cultivated region, over a good road. The Swannanoa is, however, a turbid + stream. In order to obtain the most impressive view of Asheville we + approached it by the way of Beaucatcher Hill, a sharp elevation a mile + west of the town. I suppose the name is a corruption of some descriptive + French word, but it has long been a favorite resort of the frequenters of + Asheville, and it may be traditional that it is a good place to catch + beaux. The summit is occupied by a handsome private residence, and from + this ridge the view, which has the merit of “bursting” upon the traveler + as he comes over the hill, is captivating in its extent and variety. The + pretty town of Asheville is seen to cover a number of elevations gently + rising out of the valley, and the valley, a rich agricultural region, well + watered and fruitful, is completely inclosed by picturesque hills, some of + them rising to the dignity of mountains. The most conspicuous of these is + Mount Pisgah, eighteen miles distant to the southwest, a pyramid of the + Balsam range, 5757 feet high. Mount Pisgah, from its shape, is the most + attractive mountain in this region. + </p> + <p> + The sunset light was falling upon the splendid panorama and softening it. + The windows of the town gleamed as if on fire. From the steep slope below + came the mingled sounds of children shouting, cattle driven home, and all + that hum of life that marks a thickly peopled region preparing for the + night. It was the leisure hour of an August afternoon, and Asheville was + in all its watering-place gayety, as we reined up at the Swannanoa hotel. + A band was playing on the balcony. We had reached ice-water, barbers, + waiters, civilization. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + Ashville, delightful for situation, on small hills that rise above the + French Broad below its confluence with the Swannanoa, is a sort of + fourteenth cousin to Saratoga. It has no springs, but lying 2250 feet + above the sea and in a lovely valley, mountain girt, it has pure + atmosphere and an equable climate; and being both a summer and winter + resort, it has acquired a watering-place air. There are Southerners who + declare that it is too hot in summer, and that the complete circuit of + mountains shuts out any lively movement of air. But the scenery is so + charming and noble, the drives are so varied, the roads so unusually + passable for a Southern country, and the facilities for excursions so + good, that Asheville is a favorite resort. + </p> + <p> + Architecturally the place is not remarkable, but its surface is so + irregular, there are so many acclivities and deep valleys that + improvements can never obliterate, that it is perforce picturesque. It is + interesting also, if not pleasing, in its contrasts—the enterprise + of taste and money-making struggling with the laissez faire of the South. + The negro, I suppose, must be regarded as a conservative element; he has + not much inclination to change his clothes or his cabin, and his swarming + presence gives a ragged aspect to the new civilization. And to say the + truth, the new element of Southern smartness lacks the trim thrift the + North is familiar with; though the visitor who needs relaxation is not + disposed to quarrel with the easy-going terms on which life is taken. + </p> + <p> + Asheville, it is needless to say, appeared very gay and stimulating to the + riders from the wilderness. The Professor, who does not even pretend to + patronize Nature, had his revenge as we strolled about the streets (there + is but one of much consideration), immensely entertained by the + picturesque contrasts. There was more life and amusement here in five + minutes, he declared, than in five days of what people called scenery—the + present rage for scenery, anyway, being only a fashion and a modern + invention. The Friend suspected from this penchant for the city that the + Professor must have been brought up in the country. + </p> + <p> + There was a kind of predetermined and willful gayety about Asheville + however, that is apt to be present in a watering-place, and gave to it the + melancholy tone that is always present in gay places. We fancied that the + lively movement in the streets had an air of unreality. A band of + musicians on the balcony of the Swannanoa were scraping and tooting and + twanging with a hired air, and on the opposite balcony of the Eagle a + rival band echoed and redoubled the perfunctory joyousness. The gayety was + contagious: the horses felt it; those that carried light burdens of beauty + minced and pranced, the pony in the dog-cart was inclined to dash, the few + passing equipages had an air of pleasure; and the people of color, the + comely waitress and the slouching corner-loafer, responded to the + animation of the festive strains. In the late afternoon the streets were + full of people, wagons, carriages, horsemen, all with a holiday air, + dashed with African color and humor—the irresponsibility of the most + insouciant and humorous race in the world, perhaps more comical than + humorous; a mixture of recent civilization and rudeness, peculiar and + amusing; a happy coming together, it seemed, of Southern abandon and + Northern wealth, though the North was little represented at this season. + </p> + <p> + As evening came on, the streets, though wanting gas, were still more + animated; the shops were open, some very good ones, and the white and + black throng increasing, especially the black, for the negro is + preeminently a night bird. In the hotels dancing was promised—the + german was announced; on the galleries and in the corridors were groups of + young people, a little loud in manner and voice,—the young + gentleman, with his over-elaborate manner to ladies in bowing and + hat-lifting, and the blooming girls from the lesser Southern cities, with + the slight provincial note, and yet with the frank and engaging cordiality + which is as charming as it is characteristic. I do not know what led the + Professor to query if the Southern young women were not superior to the + Southern young men, but he is always asking questions nobody can answer. + At the Swannanoa were half a dozen bridal couples, readily recognizable by + the perfect air they had of having been married a long time. How + interesting such young voyagers are, and how interesting they are to each + other! Columbus never discovered such a large world as they have to find + out and possess each in the other. + </p> + <p> + Among the attractions of the evening it was difficult to choose. There was + a lawn-party advertised at Battery Point (where a fine hotel has since + been built) and we walked up to that round knob after dark. It is a hill + with a grove, which commands a charming view, and was fortified during the + war. We found it illuminated with Chinese lanterns; and little tables set + about under the trees, laden with cake and ice-cream, offered a chance to + the stranger to contribute money for the benefit of the Presbyterian + Church. I am afraid it was not a profitable entertainment, for the men + seemed to have business elsewhere, but the ladies about the tables made + charming groups in the lighted grove. Man is a stupid animal at best, or + he would not make it so difficult for the womenkind to scrape together a + little money for charitable purposes. But probably the women like this + method of raising money better than the direct one. + </p> + <p> + The evening gayety of the town was well distributed. When we descended to + the Court-House Square, a great crowd had collected, black, white, and + yellow, about a high platform, upon which four glaring torches lighted up + the novel scene, and those who could read might decipher this legend on a + standard at the back of the stage: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + HAPPY JOHN. + ONE OF THE SLAVES OF WADE HAMPTON. + COME AND SEE HIM! +</pre> + <p> + Happy John, who occupied the platform with Mary, a “bright” yellow girl, + took the comical view of his race, which was greatly enjoyed by his + audience. His face was blackened to the proper color of the stage-darky, + and he wore a flaming suit of calico, the trousers and coat striped + longitudinally according to Punch's idea of “Uncle Sam,” the coat a + swallow-tail bound and faced with scarlet, and a bell-crowned white hat. + This conceit of a colored Yankee seemed to tickle all colors in the + audience amazingly. Mary, the “bright” woman (this is the universal + designation of the light mulatto), was a pleasing but bold yellow girl, + who wore a natty cap trimmed with scarlet, and had the assured or pert + manner of all traveling sawdust performers. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes,” exclaimed a bright woman in the crowd, “Happy John was sure + enough one of Wade Hampton's slaves, and he's right good looking when he's + not blackened up.” + </p> + <p> + Happy John sustained the promise of his name by spontaneous gayety and + enjoyment of the fleeting moment; he had a glib tongue and a ready, rude + wit, and talked to his audience with a delicious mingling of impudence, + deference, and patronage, commenting upon them generally, administering + advice and correction in a strain of humor that kept his hearers in a + pleased excitement. He handled the banjo and the guitar alternately, and + talked all the time when he was not singing. Mary (how much harder + featured and brazen a woman is in such a position than a man of the same + caliber!) sang, in an untutored treble, songs of sentiment, often risque, + in solo and in company with John, but with a cold, indifferent air, in + contrast to the rollicking enjoyment of her comrade. + </p> + <p> + The favorite song, which the crowd compelled her to repeat, touched + lightly the uncertainties of love, expressed in the falsetto pathetic + refrain: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mary's gone away wid de coon.” + </pre> + <p> + All this, with the moon, the soft summer night, the mixed crowd of darkies + and whites, the stump eloquence of Happy John, the singing, the laughter, + the flaring torches, made a wild scene. The entertainment was quite free, + with a “collection” occasionally during the performance. + </p> + <p> + What most impressed us, however, was the turning to account by Happy John + of the “nigger” side of the black man as a means of low comedy, and the + enjoyment of it by all the people of color. They appeared to appreciate as + highly as anybody the comic element in themselves, and Happy John had + emphasized it by deepening his natural color and exaggerating the “nigger” + peculiarities. I presume none of them analyzed the nature of his + infectious gayety, nor thought of the pathos that lay so close to it, in + the fact of his recent slavery, and the distinction of being one of Wade + Hampton's niggers, and the melancholy mirth of this light-hearted race's + burlesque of itself. + </p> + <p> + A performance followed which called forth the appreciation of the crowd + more than the wit of Happy John or the faded songs of the yellow girl. + John took two sweet-cakes and broke each in fine pieces into a saucer, and + after sugaring and eulogizing the dry messes, called for two small darky + volunteers from the audience to come up on the platform and devour them. + He offered a prize of fifteen cents to the one who should first eat the + contents of his dish, not using his hands, and hold up the saucer empty in + token of his victory. The cake was tempting, and the fifteen cents + irresistible, and a couple of boys in ragged shirts and short trousers and + a suspender apiece came up shamefacedly to enter for the prize. Each one + grasped his saucer in both hands, and with face over the dish awaited the + word “go,” which John gave, and started off the contest with a banjo + accompaniment. To pick up with the mouth the dry cake and choke it down + was not so easy as the boys apprehended, but they went into the task with + all their might, gobbling and swallowing as if they loved cake, + occasionally rolling an eye to the saucer of the contestant to see the + relative progress, John strumming, ironically encouraging, and the crowd + roaring. As the combat deepened and the contestants strangled and stuffed + and sputtered, the crowd went into spasms of laughter. The smallest boy + won by a few seconds, holding up his empty saucer, with mouth stuffed, + vigorously trying to swallow, like a chicken with his throat clogged with + dry meal, and utterly unable to speak. The impartial John praised the + victor in mock heroics, but said that the trial was so even that he would + divide the prize, ten cents to one and five to the other—a stroke of + justice that greatly increased his popularity. And then he dismissed the + assembly, saying that he had promised the mayor to do so early, because he + did not wish to run an opposition to the political meeting going on in the + courthouse. + </p> + <p> + The scene in the large court-room was less animated than that out-doors; a + half-dozen tallow dips, hung on the wall in sconces and stuck on the + judge's long desk, feebly illuminated the mixed crowd of black and white + who sat in, and on the backs of, the benches, and cast only a fitful light + upon the orator, who paced back and forth and pounded the rail. It was to + have been a joint discussion between the two presidential electors running + in that district, but, the Republican being absent, his place was taken by + a young man of the town. The Democratic orator took advantage of the + absence of his opponent to describe the discussion of the night before, + and to give a portrait of his adversary. He was represented as a cross + between a baboon and a jackass, who would be a natural curiosity for + Barnum. “I intend,” said the orator, “to put him in a cage and exhibit him + about the deestrict.” This political hit called forth great applause. All + his arguments were of this pointed character, and they appeared to be + unanswerable. The orator appeared to prove that there wasn't a respectable + man in the opposite party who wasn't an office-holder, nor a white man of + any kind in it who was not an office-holder. If there were any issues or + principles in the canvass, he paid his audience the compliment of knowing + all about them, for he never alluded to any. In another state of society, + such a speech of personalities might have led to subsequent shootings, but + no doubt his adversary would pay him in the same coin when next they met, + and the exhibition seemed to be regarded down here as satisfactory and + enlightened political canvassing for votes. The speaker who replied, + opened his address with a noble tribute to woman (as the first speaker had + ended his), directed to a dozen of that sex who sat in the gloom of a + corner. The young man was moderate in his sarcasm, and attempted to speak + of national issues, but the crowd had small relish for that sort of thing. + At eleven o'clock, when we got away from the unsavory room (more than half + the candles had gone out), the orator was making slow headway against the + refished blackguardism of the evening. The german was still “on” at the + hotel when we ascended to our chamber, satisfied that Asheville was a + lively town. + </p> + <p> + The sojourner at Asheville can amuse himself very well by walking or + driving to the many picturesque points of view about the town; livery + stables abound, and the roads are good. The Beau-catcher Hill is always + attractive; and Connolly's, a private place a couple of miles from town, + is ideally situated, being on a slight elevation in the valley, commanding + the entire circuit of mountains, for it has the air of repose which is so + seldom experienced in the location of a dwelling in America whence an + extensive prospect is given. Or if the visitor is disinclined to exertion, + he may lounge in the rooms of the hospitable Asheville Club; or he may sit + on the sidewalk in front of the hotels, and talk with the colonels and + judges and generals and ex-members of Congress, the talk generally + drifting to the new commercial and industrial life of the South, and only + to politics as it affects these; and he will be pleased, if the + conversation takes a reminiscent turn, with the lack of bitterness and the + tone of friendliness. The negro problem is commonly discussed + philosophically and without heat, but there is always discovered, + underneath, the determination that the negro shall never again get the + legislative upper hand. And the gentleman from South Carolina who has an + upland farm, and is heartily glad slavery is gone, and wants the negro + educated, when it comes to ascendency in politics—such as the State + once experienced—asks you what you would do yourself. This is not + the place to enter upon the politico-social question, but the writer may + note one impression gathered from much friendly and agreeable + conversation. It is that the Southern whites misapprehend and make a + scarecrow of “social equality.” When, during the war, it was a question at + the North of giving the colored people of the Northern States the ballot, + the argument against it used to be stated in the form of a question: “Do + you want your daughter to marry a negro?” Well, the negro has his + political rights in the North, and there has come no change in the social + conditions whatever. And there is no doubt that the social conditions + would remain exactly as they are at the South if the negro enjoyed all the + civil rights which the Constitution tries to give him. The most sensible + view of this whole question was taken by an intelligent colored man, whose + brother was formerly a representative in Congress. “Social equality,” he + said in effect, “is a humbug. We do not expect it, we do not want it. It + does not exist among the blacks themselves. We have our own social + degrees, and choose our own associates. We simply want the ordinary civil + rights, under which we can live and make our way in peace and amity. This + is necessary to our self-respect, and if we have not self-respect, it is + not to be supposed that the race can improve. I'll tell you what I mean. + My wife is a modest, intelligent woman, of good manners, and she is always + neat, and tastefully dressed. Now, if she goes to take the cars, she is + not permitted to go into a clean car with decent people, but is ordered + into one that is repellent, and is forced into company that any refined + woman would shrink from. But along comes a flauntingly dressed woman, of + known disreputable character, whom my wife would be disgraced to know, and + she takes any place that money will buy. It is this sort of thing that + hurts.” + </p> + <p> + We took the eastern train one evening to Round Nob (Henry's Station), some + thirty miles, in order to see the wonderful railway that descends, a + distance of eight miles, from the summit of Swannanoa Gap (2657 feet + elevation) to Round Nob Hotel (1607 feet). The Swannanoa Summit is the + dividing line between the waters that flow to the Atlantic and those that + go to the Gulf of Mexico. This fact was impressed upon us by the + inhabitants, who derive a good deal of comfort from it. Such divides are + always matter of local pride. Unfortunately, perhaps, it was too dark + before we reached Henry's to enable us to see the road in all its loops + and parallels as it appears on the map, but we gained a better effect. The + hotel, when we first sighted it, all its windows blazing with light, was + at the bottom of a well. Beside it—it was sufficiently light to see + that—a column of water sprang straight into the air to the height, + as we learned afterwards from two official sources, of 225 and 265 feet; + and the information was added that it is the highest fountain in the + world. This stout column, stiff as a flagstaff, with its feathery head of + mist gleaming like silver in the failing light, had the most charming + effect. We passed out of sight of hotel and fountain, but were conscious + of being—whirled on a circular descending grade, and very soon they + were in sight again. Again and again they disappeared and came to view, + now on one side and now on the other, until our train seemed to be + bewitched, making frantic efforts by dodgings and turnings, now through + tunnels and now over high pieces of trestle, to escape the inevitable + attraction that was gravitating it down to the hospitable lights at the + bottom of the well. When we climbed back up the road in the morning, we + had an opportunity to see the marvelous engineering, but there is little + else to see, the view being nearly always very limited. + </p> + <p> + The hotel at the bottom of the ravine, on the side of Round Nob, offers + little in the way of prospect, but it is a picturesque place, and we could + understand why it was full of visitors when we came to the table. It was + probably the best-kept house of entertainment in the State, and being in + the midst of the Black Hills, it offers good chances for fishing and + mountain climbing. + </p> + <p> + In the morning the fountain, which is, of course, artificial, refused to + play, the rain in the night having washed in debris which clogged the + conduit. But it soon freed itself and sent up for a long time, like a + sulky geyser, mud and foul water. When it got freedom and tolerable + clearness, we noted that the water went up in pulsations, which were + marked at short distances by the water falling off, giving the column the + appearance of a spine. The summit, always beating the air in efforts to + rise higher, fell over in a veil of mist. + </p> + <p> + There are certain excursions that the sojourner at Asheville must make. He + must ride forty-five miles south through Henderson and Transylvania to + Caesar's Head, on the South Carolina border, where the mountain system + abruptly breaks down into the vast southern plain; where the observer, + standing on the edge of the precipice, has behind him and before him the + greatest contrast that nature can offer. He must also take the rail to + Waynesville, and visit the much-frequented White Sulphur Springs, among + the Balsam Mountains, and penetrate the Great Smoky range by way of + Quallatown, and make the acquaintance of the remnant of Cherokee Indians + living on the north slope of Cheoah Mountain. The Professor could have + made it a matter of personal merit that he escaped all these encounters + with wild and picturesque nature, if his horse had not been too disabled + for such long jaunts. It is only necessary, however, to explain to the + public that the travelers are not gormandizers of scenery, and were + willing to leave some portions of the State to the curiosity of future + excursionists. + </p> + <p> + But so much was said about Hickory Nut Gap that a visit to it could not be + evaded. The Gap is about twenty-four miles southeast of Asheville. In the + opinion of a well-informed colonel, who urged us to make the trip, it is + the finest piece of scenery it this region. We were brought up on the + precept “get the best,” and it was with high anticipations that we set out + about eleven o'clock one warm, foggy morning. We followed a very good road + through a broken, pleasant country, gradually growing wilder and less + cultivated. There was heavy rain most of the day on the hills, and + occasionally a shower swept across our path. The conspicuous object toward + which we traveled all the morning was a shapely conical hill at the + beginning of the Gap. + </p> + <p> + At three o'clock we stopped at the Widow Sherrill's for dinner. Her house, + only about a mile from the summit, is most picturesquely situated on a + rough slope, giving a wide valley and mountain view. The house is old + rambling, many-roomed, with wide galleries on two sides. If one wanted a + retired retreat for a few days, with good air and fair entertainment, this + could be commended. It is an excellent fruit region; apples especially are + sound and of good flavor. That may be said of all this part of the State. + The climate is adapted to apples, as the hilly part of New England is. I + fancy the fruit ripens slowly, as it does in New England, and is not + subject to quick decay like much of that grown in the West. But the grape + also can be grown in all this mountain region. Nothing but lack of + enterprise prevents any farmer from enjoying abundance of fruit. The + industry carried on at the moment at the Widow Sherrill's was the + artificial drying of apples for the market. The apples are pared, cored, + and sliced in spirals, by machinery, and dried on tin sheets in a patented + machine. The industry appears to be a profitable one hereabouts, and is + about the only one that calls in the aid of invention. + </p> + <p> + While our dinner was preparing, we studied the well-known pictures of + “Jane” and “Eliza,” the photographs of Confederate boys, who had never + returned from the war, and the relations, whom the traveling photographers + always like to pillory in melancholy couples, and some stray volumes of + the Sunday-school Union. Madame Sherrill, who carries on the farm since + the death of her husband, is a woman of strong and liberal mind, who + informed us that she got small comfort in the churches in the + neighborhood, and gave us, in fact, a discouraging account of the unvital + piety of the region. + </p> + <p> + The descent from the summit of the Gap to Judge Logan's, nine miles, is + rapid, and the road is wild and occasionally picturesque, following the + Broad River, a small stream when we first overtook it, but roaring, rocky, + and muddy, owing to frequent rains, and now and then tumbling down in + rapids. The noisy stream made the ride animated, and an occasional cabin, + a poor farmhouse, a mill, a schoolhouse, a store with an assemblage of + lean horses tied to the hitching rails, gave the Professor opportunity for + remarks upon the value of life under such circumstances. + </p> + <p> + The valley which we followed down probably owes its celebrity to the + uncommon phenomena of occasional naked rocks and precipices. The inclosing + mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and generally wooded. I do not + think that the ravine would be famous in a country where exposed ledges + and buttressing walls of rock are common. It is only by comparison with + the local scenery that this is remarkable. About a mile above judge + Logan's we caught sight, through the trees, of the famous waterfall. From + the top of the high ridge on the right, a nearly perpendicular cascade + pours over the ledge of rocks and is lost in the forest. We could see + nearly the whole of it, at a great height above us, on the opposite side + of the river, and it would require an hour's stiff climb to reach its + foot. From where we viewed it, it seemed a slender and not very important, + but certainly a very beautiful cascade, a band of silver in the mass of + green foliage. The fall is said to be 1400 feet. Our colonel insists that + it is a thousand. It may be, but the valley where we stood is at least at + an elevation of 1300 feet; we could not believe that the ridge over which + the water pours is much higher than 3000 feet, and the length of the fall + certainly did not appear to be a quarter of the height of the mountain + from our point of observation. But we had no desire to belittle this + pretty cascade, especially when we found that Judge Logan would regard a + foot abated from the 1400 as a personal grievance. Mr. Logan once + performed the functions of local judge, a Republican appointment, and he + sits around the premises now in the enjoyment of that past dignity and of + the fact that his wife is postmistress. His house of entertainment is at + the bottom of the valley, a place shut in, warm, damp, and not inviting to + a long stay, although the region boasts a good many natural curiosities. + </p> + <p> + It was here that we encountered again the political current, out of which + we had been for a month. The Judge himself was reticent, as became a + public man, but he had conspicuously posted up a monster prospectus, sent + out from Augusta, of a campaign life of Blaine and Logan, in which the + Professor read, with shaking knees, this sentence: “Sure to be the + greatest and hottest [campaign and civil battle] ever known in this world. + The thunder of the supreme struggle and its reverberations will shake the + continents for months, and will be felt from Pole to Pole.” + </p> + <p> + For this and other reasons this seemed a risky place to be in. There was + something sinister about the murky atmosphere, and a suspicion of + mosquitoes besides. Had there not been other travelers staying here, we + should have felt still more uneasy. The house faced Bald Mountain, 4000 + feet high, a hill that had a very bad reputation some years ago, and was + visited by newspaper reporters. This is, in fact, the famous Shaking + Mountain. For a long time it had a habit of trembling, as if in an + earthquake spasm, but with a shivering motion very different from that + produced by an earthquake. The only good that came of it was that it + frightened all the “moonshiners,” and caused them to join the church. It + is not reported what became of the church afterwards. It is believed now + that the trembling was caused by the cracking of a great ledge on the + mountain, which slowly parted asunder. Bald Mountain is the scene of Mrs. + Burnett's delightful story of “Louisiana,” and of the play of “Esmeralda.” + A rock is pointed out toward the summit, which the beholder is asked to + see resembles a hut, and which is called “Esmeralda's Cottage.” But this + attractive maiden has departed, and we did not discover any woman in the + region who remotely answers to her description. + </p> + <p> + In the morning we rode a mile and a half through the woods and followed up + a small stream to see the celebrated pools, one of which the Judge said + was two hundred feet deep, and another bottomless. These pools, not round, + but on one side circular excavations, some twenty feet across, worn in the + rock by pebbles, are very good specimens, and perhaps remarkable + specimens, of “pot-holes.” They are, however, regarded here as one of the + wonders of the world. On the way to them we saw beautiful wild + trumpet-creepers in blossom, festooning the trees. + </p> + <p> + The stream that originates in Hickory Nut Gap is the westernmost branch of + several forks of the Broad, which unite to the southeast in Rutherford + County, flow to Columbia, and reach the Atlantic through the channel of + the Santee. It is not to be confounded with the French Broad, which + originates among the hills of Transylvania, runs northward past Asheville, + and finds its way to the Tennessee through the Warm Springs Gap in the + Bald Mountains. As the French claimed ownership of all the affluents of + the Mississippi, this latter was called the French Broad. + </p> + <p> + It was a great relief the next morning, on our return, to rise out of the + lifeless atmosphere of the Gap into the invigorating air at the Widow + Sherrill's, whose country-seat is three hundred feet higher than + Asheville. It was a day of heavy showers, and apparently of leisure to the + scattered population; at every store and mill was a congregation of + loafers, who had hitched their scrawny horses and mules to the fences, and + had the professional air of the idler and gossip the world over. The + vehicles met on the road were a variety of the prairie schooner, long + wagons with a top of hoops over which is stretched a cotton cloth. The + wagons are without seats, and the canvas is too low to admit of sitting + upright, if there were. The occupants crawl in at either end, sit or lie + on the bottom of the wagon, and jolt along in shiftless uncomfortableness. + </p> + <p> + Riding down the French Broad was one of the original objects of our + journey. Travelers with the same intention may be warned that the route on + horseback is impracticable. The distance to the Warm Springs is + thirty-seven miles; to Marshall, more than halfway, the road is clear, as + it runs on the opposite side of the river from the railway, and the valley + is something more than river and rails. But below Marshall the valley + contracts, and the rails are laid a good portion of the way in the old + stage road. One can walk the track, but to ride a horse over its sleepers + and culverts and occasional bridges, and dodge the trains, is neither safe + nor agreeable. We sent our horses round—the messenger taking the + risk of leading them, between trains, over the last six or eight miles,—and + took the train. + </p> + <p> + The railway, after crossing a mile or two of meadows, hugs the river all + the way. The scenery is the reverse of bold. The hills are low, monotonous + in form, and the stream winds through them, with many a pretty turn and + “reach,” with scarcely a ribbon of room to spare on either side. The river + is shallow, rapid, stony, muddy, full of rocks, with an occasional little + island covered with low bushes. The rock seems to be a clay formation, + rotten and colored. As we approach Warm Springs the scenery becomes a + little bolder, and we emerge into the open space about the Springs through + a narrower defile, guarded by rocks that are really picturesque in color + and splintered decay, one of them being known, of course, as the “Lover's + Leap,” a name common in every part of the modern or ancient world where + there is a settlement near a precipice, with always the same legend + attached to it. + </p> + <p> + There is a little village at Warm Springs, but the hotel—since + burned and rebuilt—(which may be briefly described as a palatial + shanty) stands by itself close to the river, which is here a deep, rapid, + turbid stream. A bridge once connected it with the road on the opposite + bank, but it was carried away three or four years ago, and its ragged + butments stand as a monument of procrastination, while the stream is + crossed by means of a flatboat and a cable. In front of the hotel, on the + slight slope to the river, is a meager grove of locusts. The famous + spring, close to-the stream, is marked only by a rough box of wood and an + iron pipe, and the water, which has a temperature of about one hundred + degrees, runs to a shabby bath-house below, in which is a pool for + bathing. The bath is very agreeable, the tepid water being singularly soft + and pleasant. It has a slightly sulphurous taste. Its good effects are + much certified. The grounds, which might be very pretty with care, are + ill-kept and slatternly, strewn with debris, as if everything was left to + the easy-going nature of the servants. The main house is of brick, with + verandas and galleries all round, and a colonnade of thirteen huge brick + and stucco columns, in honor of the thirteen States,—a relic of + post-Revolutionary times, when the house was the resort of Southern + fashion and romance. These columns have stood through one fire, and + perhaps the recent one, which swept away the rest of the structure. The + house is extended in a long wooden edifice, with galleries and outside + stairs, the whole front being nearly seven hundred feet long. In a rear + building is a vast, barrack-like dining-room, with a noble ball-room + above, for dancing is the important occupation of visitors. + </p> + <p> + The situation is very pretty, and the establishment has a picturesqueness + of its own. Even the ugly little brick structure near the bath-house + imposes upon one as Wade Hampton's cottage. No doubt we liked the place + better than if it had been smart, and enjoyed the neglige condition, and + the easy terms on which life is taken there. There was a sense of + abundance in the sight of fowls tiptoeing about the verandas, and to meet + a chicken in the parlor was a sort of guarantee that we should meet him + later on in the dining-room. There was nothing incongruous in the presence + of pigs, turkeys, and chickens on the grounds; they went along with the + good-natured negro-service and the general hospitality; and we had a + mental rest in the thought that all the gates would have been off the + hinges, if there had been any gates. The guests were very well treated + indeed, and were put under no sort of restraint by discipline. The long + colonnade made an admirable promenade and lounging-place and point of + observation. It was interesting to watch the groups under the locusts, to + see the management of the ferry, the mounting and dismounting of the + riding-parties, and to study the colors on the steep hill opposite, + halfway up which was a neat cottage and flower-garden. The type of people + was very pleasantly Southern. Colonels and politicians stand in groups and + tell stories, which are followed by explosions of laughter; retire + occasionally into the saloon, and come forth reminded of more stories, and + all lift their hats elaborately and suspend the narratives when a lady + goes past. A company of soldiers from Richmond had pitched its tents near + the hotel, and in the evening the ball-room was enlivened with uniforms. + Among the graceful dancers—and every one danced well, and with + spirit was pointed out the young widow of a son of Andrew Johnson, whose + pretty cottage overlooks the village. But the Professor, to whom this + information was communicated, doubted whether here it was not a greater + distinction to be the daughter of the owner of this region than to be + connected with a President of the United States. + </p> + <p> + A certain air of romance and tradition hangs about the French Broad and + the Warm Springs, which the visitor must possess himself of in order to + appreciate either. This was the great highway of trade and travel. At + certain seasons there was an almost continuous procession of herds of + cattle and sheep passing to the Eastern markets, and of trains of big + wagons wending their way to the inviting lands watered by the Tennessee. + Here came in the summer-time the Southern planters in coach and four, with + a great retinue of household servants, and kept up for months that unique + social life, a mixture of courtly ceremony and entire freedom, the + civilization which had the drawing-room at one end and the negro-quarters + at the other,—which has passed away. It was a continuation into our + own restless era of the manners and the literature of George the Third, + with the accompanying humor and happy-go-lucky decadence of the negro + slaves. On our way down we saw on the river-bank, under the trees, the old + hostelry, Alexander's, still in decay,—an attractive tavern, that + was formerly one of the notable stopping-places on the river. Master, and + fine lady, and obsequious, larking darky, and lumbering coach, and throng + of pompous and gay life, have all disappeared. There was no room in this + valley for the old institutions and for the iron track. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “When in the chronicle of wasted time + I see descriptions of the fairest wights, + And beauty making beautiful old rhyme + In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, + We, which now behold these present days, + Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.” + </pre> + <p> + This perverted use of noble verse was all the response the Friend got in + his attempt to drop into the sentimental vein over the past of the French + Broad. + </p> + <p> + The reader must not think there is no enterprise in this sedative and idle + resort. The conceited Yankee has to learn that it is not he alone who can + be accused of the thrift of craft. There is at the Warm Springs a thriving + mill for crushing and pulverizing barites, known vulgarly as heavy-spar. + It is the weight of this heaviest of minerals, and not its lovely + crystals, that gives it value. The rock is crushed, washed, sorted out by + hand, to remove the foreign substances, then ground and subjected to + acids, and at the end of the process it is as white and fine as the best + bolted flour. This heavy adulterant is shipped to the North in large + quantities,—the manager said he had recently an order for a hundred + thousand dollars' worth of it. What is the use of this powder? Well, it is + of use to the dealer who sells white lead for paint, to increase the + weight of the lead, and it is the belief hereabouts that it is mixed with + powdered sugar. The industry is profitable to those engaged in it. + </p> + <p> + It was impossible to get much information about our route into Tennessee, + except that we should go by Paint Rock, and cross Paint Mountain. Late one + morning,—a late start is inevitable here,—accompanied by a + cavalcade, we crossed the river by the rope ferry, and trotted down the + pretty road, elevated above the stream and tree-shaded, offering always + charming glimpses of swift water and overhanging foliage (the railway + obligingly taking the other side of the river), to Paint Rock,—six + miles. This Paint Rock is a naked precipice by the roadside, perhaps sixty + feet high, which has a large local reputation. It is said that its face + shows painting done by the Indians, and hieroglyphics which nobody can + read. On this bold, crumbling cliff, innumerable visitors have written + their names. We stared at it a good while to discover the paint and + hieroglyphics, but could see nothing except iron stains. Round the corner + is a farmhouse and place of call for visitors, a neat cottage, with a + display of shells and minerals and flower-pots; and here we turned north + crossed the little stream called Paint River, the only clear water we had + seen in a month, passed into the State of Tennessee, and by a gentle + ascent climbed Paint Mountain. The open forest road, with the murmur of + the stream below, was delightfully exhilarating, and as we rose the + prospect opened,—the lovely valley below, Bald Mountains behind us, + and the Butt Mountains rising as we came over the ridge. + </p> + <p> + Nobody on the way, none of the frowzy women or unintelligent men, knew + anything of the route, or could give us any information of the country + beyond. But as we descended in Tennessee the country and the farms + decidedly improved,—apple-trees and a grapevine now and then. + </p> + <p> + A ride of eight miles brought us to Waddle's, hungry and disposed to + receive hospitality. We passed by an old farm building to a new + two-storied, gayly painted house on a hill. We were deceived by + appearances. The new house, with a new couple in it, had nothing to offer + us except some buttermilk. Why should anybody be obliged to feed roving + strangers? As to our horses, the young woman with a baby in her arms + declared, + </p> + <p> + “We've got nothing for stock but roughness; perhaps you can get something + at the other house.” + </p> + <p> + “Roughness,” we found out at the other house, meant hay in this region. We + procured for the horses a light meal of green oats, and for our own dinner + we drank at the brook and the Professor produced a few sonnets. On this + sustaining repast we fared on nearly twelve miles farther, through a + rolling, good farming country, offering little for comment, in search of a + night's lodging with one of the brothers Snap. But one brother declined + our company on the plea that his wife was sick, and the other because his + wife lived in Greenville, and we found ourselves as dusk came on without + shelter in a tavernless land. Between the two refusals we enjoyed the most + picturesque bit of scenery of the day, at the crossing of Camp Creek, a + swift little stream, that swirled round under the ledge of bold rocks + before the ford. This we learned was a favorite camp-meeting ground. Mary + was calling the cattle home at the farm of the second Snap. It was a very + peaceful scene of rural life, and we were inclined to tarry, but Mary, + instead of calling us home with the cattle, advised us to ride on to + Alexander's before it got dark. + </p> + <p> + It is proper to say that at Alexander's we began to see what this pleasant + and fruitful country might be, and will be, with thrift and intelligent + farming. Mr. Alexander is a well-to-do farmer, with plenty of cattle and + good barns (always an evidence of prosperity), who owes his success to + industry and an open mind to new ideas. He was a Unionist during the war, + and is a Democrat now, though his county (Greene) has been Republican. We + had been riding all the afternoon through good land, and encountering a + better class of farmers. Peach-trees abounded (though this was an off year + for fruit), and apples and grapes throve. It is a land of honey and of + milk. The persimmon flourishes; and, sign of abundance generally, we + believe, great flocks of turkey-buzzards—majestic floaters in the + high air—hovered about. This country was ravaged during the war by + Unionists and Confederates alternately, the impartial patriots as they + passed scooping in corn, bacon, and good horses, leaving the farmers + little to live on. Mr. Alexander's farm cost him forty dollars an acre, + and yields good crops of wheat and maize. This was the first house on our + journey where at breakfast we had grace before meat, though there had been + many tables that needed it more. From the door the noble range of the Big + Bald is in sight and not distant; and our host said he had a shanty on it, + to which he was accustomed to go with his family for a month or six weeks + in the summer and enjoy a real primitive woods life. + </p> + <p> + Refreshed by this little touch of civilization, and with horses well fed, + we rode on next morning towards Jonesboro, over a rolling, rather + unpicturesque country, but ennobled by the Big Bald and Butt ranges, which + we had on our right all day. At noon we crossed the Nollechucky River at a + ford where the water was up to the saddle girth, broad, rapid, muddy, and + with a treacherous stony bottom, and came to the little hamlet of + Boylesville, with a flour-mill, and a hospitable old-fashioned house, + where we found shelter from the heat of the hot day, and where the + daughters of the house, especially one pretty girl in a short skirt and + jaunty cap, contradicted the currently received notion that this world is + a weary pilgrimage. The big parlor, with its photographs and stereoscope, + and bits of shell and mineral, a piano and a melodeon, and a coveted old + sideboard of mahogany, recalled rural New England. Perhaps these + refinements are due to the Washington College (a school for both sexes), + which is near. We noted at the tables in this region a singular use of the + word fruit. When we were asked, Will you have some of the fruit? and said + Yes, we always got applesauce. + </p> + <p> + Ten miles more in the late afternoon brought us to Jonesboro, the oldest + town in the State, a pretty place, with a flavor of antiquity, set + picturesquely on hills, with the great mountains in sight. People from + further South find this an agreeable summering place, and a fair hotel, + with odd galleries in front and rear, did not want company. The Warren + Institute for negroes has been flourishing here ever since the war. + </p> + <p> + A ride of twenty miles next day carried us to Union. Before noon we forded + the Watauga, a stream not so large as the Nollechucky, and were + entertained at the big brick house of Mr. Devault, a prosperous and + hospitable farmer. This is a rich country. We had met in the morning + wagon-loads of watermelons and muskmelons, on the way to Jonesboro, and + Mr. Devault set abundance of these refreshing fruits before us as we + lounged on the porch before dinner. + </p> + <p> + It was here that we made the acquaintance of a colored woman, a withered, + bent old pensioner of the house, whose industry (she excelled any modern + patent apple-parer) was unabated, although she was by her own confession + (a woman, we believe, never owns her age till she has passed this point) + and the testimony of others a hundred years old. But age had not impaired + the brightness of her eyes, nor the limberness of her tongue, nor her + shrewd good sense. She talked freely about the want of decency and + morality in the young colored folks of the present day. It was n't so when + she was a girl. Long, long time ago, she and her husband had been sold at + sheriff's sale and separated, and she never had another husband. Not that + she blamed her master so much he could n't help it; he got in debt. And + she expounded her philosophy about the rich, and the danger they are in. + The great trouble is that when a person is rich, he can borrow money so + easy, and he keeps drawin' it out of the bank and pilin' up the debt, like + rails on top of one another, till it needs a ladder to get on to the pile, + and then it all comes down in a heap, and the man has to begin on the + bottom rail again. If she'd to live her life over again, she'd lay up + money; never cared much about it till now. The thrifty, shrewd old woman + still walked about a good deal, and kept her eye on the neighborhood. + Going out that morning she had seen some fence up the road that needed + mending, and she told Mr. Devault that she didn't like such shiftlessness; + she didn't know as white folks was much better than colored folks. + Slavery? Yes, slavery was pretty bad—she had seen five hundred + niggers in handcuffs, all together in a field, sold to be sent South. + </p> + <p> + About six miles from here is a beech grove of historical interest, worth a + visit if we could have spared the time. In it is the large beech (six and + a half feet around six feet from the ground) on which Daniel Boone shot a + bear, when he was a rover in this region. He himself cut an inscription on + the tree recording his prowess, and it is still distinctly legible: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + <b>D. BOONE CILT A BAR ON THIS TREE, 1760.</b> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + This tree is a place of pilgrimage, and names of people from all parts of + the country are cut on it, until there is scarcely room for any more + records of such devotion. The grove is ancient looking, the trees are + gnarled and moss-grown. Hundreds of people go there, and the trees are + carved all over with their immortal names. + </p> + <p> + A pleasant ride over a rich rolling country, with an occasional strip of + forest, brought us to Union in the evening, with no other adventure than + the meeting of a steam threshing-machine in the road, with steam up, + clattering along. The devil himself could not invent any machine + calculated to act on the nerves of a horse like this. Jack took one look + and then dashed into the woods, scraping off his rider's hat but did not + succeed in getting rid of his burden or knocking down any trees. + </p> + <p> + Union, on the railway, is the forlornest of little villages, with some + three hundred inhabitants and a forlorn hotel, kept by an ex-stage-driver. + The village, which lies on the Holston, has no drinking-water in it nor + enterprise enough to bring it in; not a well nor a spring in its limits; + and for drinking-water everybody crosses the river to a spring on the + other side. A considerable part of the labor of the town is fetching water + over the bridge. On a hill overlooking the village is a big, pretentious + brick house, with a tower, the furniture of which is an object of wonder + to those who have seen it. It belonged to the late Mrs. Stover, daughter + of Andrew Johnson. The whole family of the ex-President have departed this + world, but his memory is still green in this region, where he was almost + worshiped—so the people say in speaking of him. + </p> + <p> + Forlorn as was the hotel at Union, the landlord's daughters were beginning + to draw the lines in rural refinement. One of them had been at school in + Abingdon. Another, a mature young lady of fifteen, who waited on the + table, in the leisure after supper asked the Friend for a light for her + cigarette, which she had deftly rolled. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you smoke?” + </p> + <p> + “So as I shan't get into the habit of dipping. Do you think dipping is + nice?” + </p> + <p> + The traveler was compelled to say that he did not, though he had seen a + good deal of it wherever he had been. + </p> + <p> + “All the girls dips round here. But me and my sisters rather smoke than + get in a habit of dipping.” + </p> + <p> + To the observation that Union seemed to be a dull place: + </p> + <p> + “Well, there's gay times here in the winter—dancing. Like to dance? + Well, I should say! Last winter I went over to Blountsville to a dance in + the court-house; there was a trial between Union and Blountsville for the + best dancing. You bet I brought back the cake and the blue ribbon.” + </p> + <p> + The country was becoming too sophisticated, and the travelers hastened to + the end of their journey. The next morning Bristol, at first over a hilly + country with magnificent oak-trees,—happily not girdled, as these + stately monarchs were often seen along the roads in North Carolina,—and + then up Beaver Creek, a turbid stream, turning some mills. When a closed + woolen factory was pointed out to the Professor (who was still traveling + for Reform), as the result of the agitation in Congress, he said, Yes, the + effect of agitation was evident in all the decayed dams and ancient + abandoned mills we had seen in the past month. + </p> + <p> + Bristol is mainly one long street, with some good stores, but generally + shabby, and on this hot morning sleepy. One side of the street is in + Tennessee, the other in Virginia. How handy for fighting this would have + been in the war, if Tennessee had gone out and Virginia stayed in. At the + hotel—may a kind Providence wake it up to its responsibilities—we + had the pleasure of reading one of those facetious handbills which the + great railway companies of the West scatter about, the serious humor of + which is so pleasing to our English friends. This one was issued by the + accredited agents of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, and dated April 1, + 1984. One sentence will suffice: + </p> + <p> + “Allow us to thank our old traveling friends for the many favors in our + line, and if you are going on your bridal trip, or to see your girl out + West, drop in at the general office of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway + and we will fix you up in Queen Anne style. Passengers for Dakota, + Montana, or the Northwest will have an overcoat and sealskin cap thrown in + with all tickets sold on or after the above date.” + </p> + <p> + The great republic cannot yet take itself seriously. Let us hope the + humors of it will last another generation. Meditating on this, we hailed + at sundown the spires of Abingdon, and regretted the end of a journey that + seems to have been undertaken for no purpose. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON HORSEBACK *** + +***** This file should be named 3126-h.htm or 3126-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/3126/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +NOTE: This work has been previously published in [Etext #2674] +The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 4 +4warn10.txt or 4warn10.zip + + + + + +On Horseback + +By Charles Dudley Warner + + + + +I + +"The way to mount a horse"- said the Professor. + +"If you have no ladder--put in the Friend of Humanity. + +The Professor had ridden through the war for the Union on the right +side, enjoying a much better view of it than if he had walked, and +knew as much about a horse as a person ought to know for the sake of +his character. The man who can recite the tales of the Canterbury +Pilgrims, on horseback, giving the contemporary pronunciation, never +missing an accent by reason of the trot, and at the same time witch +North Carolina and a strip of East Tennessee with his noble +horsemanship, is a kind of Literary Centaur of whose double +instruction any Friend of Humanity may be glad to avail himself. + +"The way to mount a horse is to grasp the mane with the left hand +holding the bridle-rein, put your left foot in the stirrup, with the +right hand on the back of the saddle, and---" + +Just then the horse stepped quickly around on his hind feet, and +looked the Professor in the face. The Superintendents of Affairs, +who occupy the flagging in front of the hotel, seated in cane- +bottomed chairs tilted back, smiled. These useful persons appear to +have a life-lease of this portion of the city pavement, and pretty +effectually block it up nearly all day and evening. When a lady +wishes to make her way through the blockade, it is the habit of these +observers of life to rise and make room, touching their hats, while +she picks her way through, and goes down the street with a pretty +consciousness of the flutter she has caused. The war has not changed +the Southern habit of sitting out-of-doors, but has added a new +element of street picturesqueness in groups of colored people +lounging about the corners. There appears to be more leisure than +ever. + +The scene of this little lesson in horsemanship was the old town of +Abingdon, in southwest Virginia, on the Virginia and East Tennessee +railway; a town of ancient respectability, which gave birth to the +Johnstons and Floyds and other notable people; a town, that still +preserves the flavor of excellent tobacco and, something of the easy- +going habits of the days of slavery, and is a sort of educational +center, where the young ladies of the region add the final graces of +intellectual life in moral philosophy and the use of the globes to +their natural gifts. The mansion of the late and left Floyd is now a +seminary, and not far from it is the Stonewall Jackson Institute, in +the midst of a grove of splendid oaks, whose stately boles and wide- +spreading branches give a dignity to educational life. The +distinction of the region is its superb oak-trees. As it was +vacation in these institutions of learning, the travelers did not see +any of the vines that traditionally cling to the oak. + +The Professor and the Friend of Humanity were about starting on a +journey, across country southward, through regions about which the +people of Abingdon could give little useful information. If the +travelers had known the capacities and resources of the country, they +would not have started without a supply train, or the establishment +of bases of provisions in advance. But, as the Professor remarked, +knowledge is something that one acquires when he has no use for it. +The horses were saddled; the riders were equipped with flannel shirts +and leather leggings; the saddle-bags were stuffed with clean linen, +and novels, and sonnets of Shakespeare, and other baggage, it would +have been well if they had been stuffed with hard-tack, for in real +life meat is more than raiment. + +The hotel, in front of which there is cultivated so much of what the +Germans call sitzfleisch, is a fair type of the majority of Southern +hotels, and differs from the same class in the North in being left a +little more to run itself. The only information we obtained about it +was from its porter at the station, who replied to the question, "Is +it the best?" "We warrant you perfect satisfaction in every +respect." This seems to be only a formula of expression, for we +found that the statement was highly colored. It was left to our +imagination to conjecture how the big chambers of the old house, with +their gaping fireplaces, might have looked when furnished and filled +with gay company, and we got what satisfaction we could out of a +bygone bustle and mint-julep hilarity. In our struggles with the +porter to obtain the little items of soap, water, and towels, we were +convinced that we had arrived too late, and that for perfect +satisfaction we should have been here before the war. It was not +always as now. In colonial days the accommodations and prices at +inns were regulated by law. In the old records in the court-house we +read that if we had been here in 1777, we could have had a gallon of +good rum for sixteen shillings; a quart bowl of rum toddy made with +loaf sugar for two shillings, or with brown sugar for one shilling +and sixpence. In 1779 prices had risen. Good rum sold for four +pounds a gallon. It was ordered that a warm dinner should cost +twelve shillings, a cold dinner nine shillings, and a good breakfast +twelve shillings. But the item that pleased us most, and made us +regret our late advent, was that for two shillings we could have had +a "good lodging, with clean sheets." The colonists were fastidious +people. + +Abingdon, prettily situated on rolling hills, and a couple of +thousand feet above the sea, with views of mountain peaks to the +south, is a cheerful and not too exciting place for a brief sojourn, +and hospitable and helpful to the stranger. We had dined--so much, +at least, the public would expect of us--with a descendant of +Pocahontas; we had assisted on Sunday morning at the dedication of a +new brick Methodist church, the finest edifice in the region-- +a dedication that took a long time, since the bishop would not +proceed with it until money enough was raised in open meeting to pay +the balance due on it: a religious act, though it did give a business +aspect to the place at the time; and we had been the light spots in +the evening service at the most aristocratic church of color. The +irresponsibility of this amiable race was exhibited in the tardiness +with which they assembled: at the appointed time nobody was there +except the sexton; it was three quarters of an hour before the +congregation began to saunter in, and the sermon was nearly over +before the pews were at all filled. Perhaps the sermon was not new, +but it was fervid, and at times the able preacher roared so that +articulate sounds were lost in the general effect. It was precisely +these passages of cataracts of sound and hard breathing which excited +the liveliest responses,--"Yes, Lord," and "Glory to God." Most of +these responses came from the "Amen corner." The sermon contained +the usual vivid description of the last judgment--ah, and I fancied +that the congregation did not get the ordinary satisfaction out of +it. Fashion had entered the fold, and the singing was mostly +executed by a choir in the dusky gallery, who thinly and harshly +warbled the emotional hymns. It occupied the minister a long time to +give out the notices of the week, and there was not an evening or +afternoon that had not its meetings, its literary or social +gathering, its picnic or fair for the benefit of the church, its +Dorcas society, or some occasion of religious sociability. The +raising of funds appeared to be the burden on the preacher's mind. +Two collections were taken up. At the first, the boxes appeared to +get no supply except from the two white trash present. But the +second was more successful. After the sermon was over, an elder took +his place at a table within the rails, and the real business of the +evening began. Somebody in the Amen corner struck up a tune that had +no end, but a mighty power of setting the congregation in motion. +The leader had a voice like the pleasant droning of a bag-pipe, and +the faculty of emitting a continuous note like that instrument, +without stopping to breathe. It went on and on like a Bach fugue, +winding and whining its way, turning the corners of the lines of the +catch without a break. The effect was soon visible in the emotional +crowd: feet began to move in a regular cadence and voices to join in, +with spurts of ejaculation; and soon, with an air of martyrdom, the +members began to leave their seats and pass before the table and +deposit their contributions. It was a cent contribution, and we +found it very difficult, under the contagious influence of the hum +from the Amen corner, not to rise and go forward and deposit a cent. +If anything could extract the pennies from a reluctant worldling, it +would be the buzzing of this tune. It went on and on, until the +house appeared to be drained dry of its cash; and we inferred by the +stopping of the melody that the preacher's salary was secure for the +time being. On inquiring, we ascertained that the pecuniary flood +that evening had risen to the height of a dollar and sixty cents. + +All was ready for the start. It should have been early in the +morning, but it was not; for Virginia is not only one of the blessed +regions where one can get a late breakfast, but where it is almost +impossible to get an early one. At ten A. M. the two horsemen rode +away out of sight of the Abingdon spectators, down the eastern +turnpike. The day was warm, but the air was full of vitality and the +spirit of adventure. It was the 22d of July. The horses were not +ambitious, but went on at an easy fox-trot that permits observation +and encourages conversation. It had been stipulated that the horses +should be good walkers, the one essential thing in a horseback +journey. Few horses, even in a country where riding is general, are +trained to walk fast. We hear much of horses that can walk five +miles an hour, but they are as rare as white elephants. Our horses +were only fair walkers. We realized how necessary this +accomplishment is, for between the Tennessee line and Asheville, +North Carolina, there is scarcely a mile of trotting-ground. + +We soon turned southward and descended into the Holston River Valley. +Beyond lay the Tennessee hills and conspicuous White-Top Mountain +(5530 feet), which has a good deal of local celebrity (standing where +the States of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina corner), and +had been pointed out to us at Abingdon. We had been urged, +personally and by letter, to ascend this mountain, without fail. +People recommend mountains to their friends as they do patent +medicines. As we leisurely jogged along we discussed this, and +endeavored to arrive at some rule of conduct for the journey. The +Professor expressed at once a feeling about mountain-climbing that +amounted to hostility,--he would go nowhere that he could not ride. +Climbing was the most unsatisfactory use to which a mountain could be +put. As to White-Top, it was a small mountain, and not worth +ascending. The Friend of Humanity, who believes in mountain-climbing +as a theory, and for other people, and knows the value of being able +to say, without detection, that he has ascended any high mountain +about which he is questioned,--since this question is the first one +asked about an exploration in a new country,--saw that he should have +to use a good deal of diplomacy to get the Professor over any +considerable elevation on the trip. And he had to confess also that +a view from a mountain is never so satisfactory as a view of a +mountain, from a moderate height. The Professor, however, did not +argue the matter on any such reasonable ground, but took his stand on +his right as a man not to ascend a mountain. With this appeal to +first principles,--a position that could not be confuted on account +of its vagueness (although it might probably be demonstrated that in +society man has no such right), there was no way of agreement except +by a compromise. It was accordingly agreed that no mountain under +six thousand feet is worth ascending; that disposed of White-Top. It +was further agreed that any mountain that is over six thousand feet +high is too high to ascend on foot. + +With this amicable adjustment we forded the Holston, crossing it +twice within a few miles. This upper branch of the Tennessee is a +noble stream, broad, with a rocky bed and a swift current. Fording +it is ticklish business except at comparatively low water, and as it +is subject to sudden rises, there must be times when it seriously +interrupts travel. This whole region, full of swift streams, is +without a bridge, and, as a consequence, getting over rivers and +brooks and the dangers of ferries occupy a prominent place in the +thoughts of the inhabitants. The life necessarily had the "frontier" +quality all through, for there can be little solid advance in +civilization in the uncertainties of a bridgeless condition. An +open, pleasant valley, the Holston, but cultivation is more and more +negligent and houses are few and poorer as we advance. + +We had left behind the hotels of "perfect satisfaction," and expected +to live on the country, trusting to the infrequent but remunerated +hospitality of the widely scattered inhabitants. We were to dine at +Ramsey's. Ramsey's had been recommended to us as a royal place of +entertainment the best in all that region; and as the sun grew hot in +the sandy valley, and the weariness of noon fell upon us, we +magnified Ramsey's in our imagination,--the nobility of its +situation, its cuisine, its inviting restfulness,--and half decided +to pass the night there in the true abandon of plantation life. Long +before we reached it, the Holston River which we followed had become +the Laurel, a most lovely, rocky, winding stream, which we forded +continually, for the valley became too narrow much of the way to +accommodate a road and a river. Eagerly as we were looking out for +it, we passed the great Ramsey's without knowing it, for it was the +first of a little settlement of two houses and a saw-mill and barn. +It was a neat log house of two lower rooms and a summer kitchen, +quite the best of the class that we saw, and the pleasant mistress of +it made us welcome. Across the road and close, to the Laurel was the +spring-house, the invariable adjunct to every well-to-do house in the +region, and on the stony margin of the stream was set up the big +caldron for the family washing; and here, paddling in the shallow +stream, while dinner was preparing, we established an intimacy with +the children and exchanged philosophical observations on life with +the old negress who was dabbling the clothes. What impressed this +woman was the inequality in life. She jumped to the unwarranted +conclusion that the Professor and the Friend were very rich, and +spoke with asperity of the difficulty she experienced in getting +shoes and tobacco. It was useless to point out to her that her +alfresco life was singularly blessed and free from care, and the +happy lot of any one who could loiter all day by this laughing +stream, undisturbed by debt or ambition. Everybody about the place +was barefooted, except the mistress, including the comely daughter of +eighteen, who served our dinner in the kitchen. The dinner was +abundant, and though it seemed to us incongruous at the time, we were +not twelve hours older when we looked back upon it with longing. On +the table were hot biscuit, ham, pork, and green beans, apple-sauce, +blackberry preserves, cucumbers, coffee, plenty of milk, honey, and +apple and blackberry pie. Here we had our first experience, and I +may say new sensation, of "honey on pie." It has a cloying sound as +it is written, but the handmaiden recommended it with enthusiasm, and +we evidently fell in her esteem, as persons from an uncultivated +society, when we declared our inexperience of "honey on pie." "Where +be you from?" It turned out to be very good, and we have tried to +introduce it in families since our return, with indifferent success. +There did not seem to be in this family much curiosity about the +world at large, nor much stir of social life. The gayety of madame +appeared to consist in an occasional visit to paw and maw and +grandmaw, up the river a few miles, where she was raised. + +Refreshed by the honey and fodder at Ramsey's, the pilgrims went +gayly along the musical Laurel, in the slanting rays of the afternoon +sun, which played upon the rapids and illumined all the woody way. +Inspired by the misapprehension of the colored philosopher and the +dainties of the dinner, the Professor soliloquized: + + "So am I as the rich, whose blessed key + Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, + The which he will not every hour survey, + For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. + Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare, + Since seldom coming, in the long year set, + Like stones of wealth they thinly placed are, + Or captain jewels in the carcanet." + +Five miles beyond Ramsey's the Tennessee line was crossed. The +Laurel became more rocky, swift, full of rapids, and the valley +narrowed down to the riverway, with standing room, however, for +stately trees along the banks. The oaks, both black and white, were, +as they had been all day, gigantic in size and splendid in foliage. +There is a certain dignity in riding in such stately company, and the +travelers clattered along over the stony road under the impression of +possible high adventure in a new world of such freshness. Nor was +beauty wanting. The rhododendrons had, perhaps, a week ago reached +their climax, and now began to strew the water and the ground with +their brilliant petals, dashing all the way with color; but they were +still matchlessly beautiful. Great banks of pink and white covered +the steep hillsides; the bending stems, ten to twenty feet high, hung +their rich clusters over the river; avenues of glory opened away in +the glade of the stream; and at every turn of the winding way vistas +glowing with the hues of romance wrenched exclamations of delight and +wonder from the Shakespearean sonneteer and his humble Friend. In +the deep recesses of the forest suddenly flamed to the view, like the +splashes of splendor on the somber canvas of an old Venetian, these +wonders of color,--the glowing summer-heart of the woods. + +It was difficult to say, meantime, whether the road was laid out in +the river, or the river in the road. In the few miles to Egger's +(this was the destination of our great expectations for the night) +the stream was crossed twenty-seven times,--or perhaps it would be +more proper to say that the road was crossed twenty-seven times. +Where the road did not run in the river, its bed was washed out and +as stony as the bed of the stream. This is a general and accurate +description of all the roads in this region, which wind along and in +the streams, through narrow valleys, shut in by low and steep hills. +The country is full of springs and streams, and between Abingdon and +Egger's is only one (small) bridge. In a region with scarcely any +level land or intervale, farmers are at a disadvantage. All along +the road we saw nothing but mean shanties, generally of logs, with +now and then a decent one-story frame, and the people looked +miserably poor. + +As we picked our way along up the Laurel, obliged for the most part +to ride single-file, or as the Professor expressed it, + + "Let me confess that we two must be twain, + Although our undivided loves are one," + +we gathered information about Egger's from the infrequent hovels on +the road, which inflamed our imaginations. Egger was the thriving +man of the region, and lived in style in a big brick house. We began +to feel a doubt that Egger would take us in, and so much did his +brick magnificence impress us that we regretted we had not brought +apparel fit for the society we were about to enter. + +It was half-past six, and we were tired and hungry, when the domain +of Egger towered in sight,--a gaunt, two-story structure of raw +brick, unfinished, standing in a narrow intervale. We rode up to the +gate, and asked a man who sat in the front-door porch if this was +Egger's, and if we could be accommodated for the night. The man, +without moving, allowed that it was Egger's, and that we could +probably stay there. This person, however, exhibited so much +indifference to our company, he was such a hairy, unkempt man, and +carried on face, hands, and clothes so much more of the soil of the +region than a prudent proprietor would divert from raising corn, that +we set him aside as a poor relation, and asked for Mr. Egger. But +the man, still without the least hospitable stir, admitted that that +was the name he went by, and at length advised us to "lite" and hitch +our horses, and sit on the porch with him and enjoy the cool of the +evening. The horses would be put up by and by, and in fact things +generally would come round some time. This turned out to be the easy +way of the country. Mr. Egger was far from being inhospitable, but +was in no hurry, and never had been in a hurry. He was not exactly a +gentleman of the old school. He was better than that. He dated from +the time when there were no schools at all, and he lived in that +placid world which is without information and ideas. Mr. Egger +showed his superiority by a total lack of curiosity about any other +world. + +This brick house, magnificent by comparison with other dwellings in +this country, seemed to us, on nearer acquaintance, only a thin, +crude shell of a house, half unfinished, with bare rooms, the +plastering already discolored. In point of furnishing it had not yet +reached the "God bless our Home" stage in crewel. In the narrow +meadow, a strip of vivid green south of the house, ran a little +stream, fed by a copious spring, and over it was built the inevitable +spring-house. A post, driven into the bank by the stream, supported +a tin wash-basin, and here we performed our ablutions. The traveler +gets to like this freedom and primitive luxury. + +The farm of Egger produces corn, wheat, grass, and sheep; it is a +good enough farm, but most of it lies at an angle of thirty-five to +forty degrees. The ridge back of the house, planted in corn, was as +steep as the roof of his dwelling. It seemed incredible that it ever +could have been plowed, but the proprietor assured us that it was +plowed with mules, and I judged that the harvesting must be done by +squirrels. The soil is good enough, if it would stay in place, but +all the hillsides are seamed with gullies. The discolored state of +the streams was accounted for as soon as we saw this cultivated land. +No sooner is the land cleared of trees and broken up than it begins +to wash. We saw more of this later, especially in North Carolina, +where we encountered no stream of water that was not muddy, and saw +no cultivated ground that was not washed. The process of denudation +is going on rapidly wherever the original forests are girdled (a +common way of preparing for crops), or cut away. + +As the time passed and there was no sign of supper, the question +became a burning one, and we went to explore the kitchen. No sign of +it there. No fire in the stove, nothing cooked in the house, of +course. Mrs. Egger and her comely young barefooted daughter had +still the milking to attend to, and supper must wait for the other +chores. It seemed easier to be Mr. Egger, in this state of +existence, and sit on the front porch and meditate on the price of +mules and the prospect of a crop, than to be Mrs. Egger, whose work +was not limited from sun to sun; who had, in fact, a day's work to do +after the men-folks had knocked off; whose chances of neighborhood +gossip were scanty, whose amusements were confined to a religious +meeting once a fortnight. Good, honest people these, not unduly +puffed up by the brick house, grubbing away year in and year out. +Yes, the young girl said, there was a neighborhood party, now and +then, in the winter. What a price to pay for mere life! + +Long before supper was ready, nearly nine o'clock, we had almost lost +interest in it. Meantime two other guests had arrived, a couple of +drovers from North Carolina, who brought into the circle--by this +time a wood-fire had been kindled in the sitting-room, which +contained a bed, an almanac, and some old copies of a newspaper--a +rich flavor of cattle, and talk of the price of steers. As to +politics, although a presidential campaign was raging, there was +scarcely an echo of it here. This was Johnson County, Tennessee, a +strong Republican county but dog-gone it, says Mr. Egger, it's no +use to vote; our votes are overborne by the rest of the State. Yes, +they'd got a Republican member of Congress,--he'd heard his name, but +he'd forgotten it. The drover said he'd heard it also, but he didn't +take much interest in such things, though he wasn't any Republican. +Parties is pretty much all for office, both agreed. Even the +Professor, who was traveling in the interest of Reform, couldn't wake +up a discussion out of such a state of mind. + +Alas! the supper, served in a room dimly lighted with a smoky lamp, +on a long table covered with oilcloth, was not of the sort to arouse +the delayed and now gone appetite of a Reformer, and yet it did not +lack variety: cornpone (Indian meal stirred up with water and heated +through), hot biscuit, slack-baked and livid, fried salt-pork +swimming in grease, apple-butter, pickled beets, onions and cucumbers +raw, coffee (so-called), buttermilk, and sweet milk when specially +asked for (the correct taste, however, is for buttermilk), and pie. +This was not the pie of commerce, but the pie of the country,--two +thick slabs of dough, with a squeezing of apple between. The +profusion of this supper staggered the novices, but the drovers +attacked it as if such cooking were a common occurrence) and did +justice to the weary labors of Mrs. Egger. + +Egger is well prepared to entertain strangers, having several rooms +and several beds in each room. Upon consultation with the drovers, +they said they'd just as soon occupy an apartment by themselves, and +we gave up their society for the night. The beds in our chamber had +each one sheet, and the room otherwise gave evidence of the modern +spirit; for in one corner stood the fashionable aesthetic decoration +of our Queen Anne drawing-rooms,--the spinning-wheel. Soothed by +this concession to taste, we crowded in between the straw and the +home-made blanket and sheet, and soon ceased to hear the barking of +dogs and the horned encounters of the drovers' herd. + +We parted with Mr. Egger after breakfast (which was a close copy of +the supper) with more respect than regret. His total charge for the +entertainment of two men and two horses--supper, lodging, and +breakfast--was high or low, as the traveler chose to estimate it. It +was $1.20: that is, thirty cents for each individual, or ten cents +for each meal and lodging. + +Our road was a sort of by-way up Gentry Creek and over the Cut Laurel +Gap to Worth's, at Creston Post Office, in North Carolina,--the next +available halting place, said to be fifteen miles distant, and +turning out to be twenty-two, and a rough road. There is a little +settlement about Egger's, and the first half mile of our way we had +the company of the schoolmistress, a modest, pleasant-spoken girl. +Neither she nor any other people we encountered had any dialect or +local peculiarity of speech. Indeed, those we encountered that +morning had nothing in manner or accent to distinguish them. The +novelists had led us to expect something different; and the modest +and pretty young lady with frank and open blue eyes, who wore gloves +and used the common English speech, had never figured in the fiction +of the region. Cherished illusions vanish often on near approach. +The day gave no peculiarity of speech to note, except the occasional +use of "hit" for "it." + +The road over Cut Laurel Gap was very steep and stony, the +thermometer mounted up to 80 deg., and, notwithstanding the beauty of +the way, the ride became tedious before we reached the summit. On +the summit is the dwelling and distillery of a colonel famous in +these parts. We stopped at the house for a glass of milk; the +colonel was absent, and while the woman in charge went after it, we +sat on the veranda and conversed with a young lady, tall, gent, well +favored, and communicative, who leaned in the doorway. + +"Yes, this house stands on the line. Where you sit, you are in +Tennessee; I'm in North Carolina." + +"Do you live here?" + +"Law, no; I'm just staying a little while at the colonel's. I live +over the mountain here, three miles from Taylorsville. I thought I'd +be where I could step into North Carolina easy." + +"How's that?" + +"Well, they wanted me to go before the grand jury and testify about +some pistol-shooting down by our house, some friends of mine got into +a little difficulty,--and I did n't want to. I never has no +difficulty with nobody, never says nothing about nobody, has nothing +against nobody, and I reckon nobody has nothing against me." + +"Did you come alone?" + +"Why, of course. I come across the mountain by a path through the +woods. That's nothing." + +A discreet, pleasant, pretty girl. This surely must be the Esmeralda +who lives in these mountains, and adorns low life by her virgin +purity and sentiment. As she talked on, she turned from time to time +to the fireplace behind her, and discharged a dark fluid from her +pretty lips, with accuracy of aim, and with a nonchalance that was +not assumed, but belongs to our free-born American girls. I cannot +tell why this habit of hers (which is no worse than the sister habit +of "dipping") should take her out of the romantic setting that her +face and figure had placed her in; but somehow we felt inclined to +ride on farther for our heroine. + +"And yet," said the Professor, as we left the site of the colonel's +thriving distillery, and by a winding, picturesque road through a +rough farming country descended into the valley,--"and yet, why fling +aside so readily a character and situation so full of romance, on +account of a habit of this mountain Helen, which one of our best +poets has almost made poetical, in the case of the pioneer taking his +westward way, with ox-goad pointing to the sky: + + "'He's leaving on the pictured rock + His fresh tobacco stain.' + +"To my mind the incident has Homeric elements. The Greeks would have +looked at it in a large, legendary way. Here is Helen, strong and +lithe of limb, ox-eyed, courageous, but woman-hearted and love- +inspiring, contended for by all the braves and daring moonshiners of +Cut Laurel Gap, pursued by the gallants of two States, the prize of a +border warfare of bowie knives and revolvers. This Helen, +magnanimous as attractive, is the witness of a pistol difficulty on +her behalf, and when wanted by the areopagus, that she may neither +implicate a lover nor punish an enemy (having nothing, this noble +type of her sex) against nobody), skips away to Mount Ida, and there, +under the aegis of the flag of her country, in a Licensed Distillery, +stands with one slender foot in Tennessee and the other in North +Carolina" + +"Like the figure of the Republic itself, superior to state +sovereignty," interposed the Friend. + +"I beg your pardon," said the Professor, urging up Laura Matilda (for +so he called the nervous mare, who fretted herself into a fever in +the stony path), "I was quite able to get the woman out of that +position without the aid of a metaphor. It is a large and Greek +idea, that of standing in two mighty States, superior to the law, +looking east and looking west, ready to transfer her agile body to +either State on the approach of messengers of the court; and I'll be +hanged if I didn't think that her nonchalant rumination of the weed, +combined with her lofty moral attitude, added something to the +picture." + +The Friend said that he was quite willing to join in the extremest +defense of the privileges of beauty,--that he even held in abeyance +judgment on the practice of dipping; but when it came to chewing, gum +was as far as he could go as an allowance for the fair sex. + + "When I consider everything that grows + Holds in perfection but a little moment..." + +The rest of the stanza was lost, for the Professor was splashing +through the stream. No sooner had we descended than the fording of +streams began again. The Friend had been obliged to stipulate that +the Professor should go ahead at these crossings, to keep the +impetuous nag of the latter from throwing half the contents of the +stream upon his slower and uncomplaining companion. + +What a lovely country, but for the heat of noon and the long +wearisomeness of the way!--not that the distance was great, but miles +and miles more than expected. How charming the open glades of the +river, how refreshing the great forests of oak and chestnut, and what +a panorama of beauty the banks of rhododendrons, now intermingled +with the lighter pink and white of the laurel! In this region the +rhododendron is called laurel) and the laurel (the sheep-laurel of +New England) is called ivy. + +At Worth's, well on in the afternoon, we emerged into a wide, open +farming intervale, a pleasant place of meadows and streams and decent +dwellings. Worth's is the trading center of the region, has a post +office and a saw-mill and a big country store; and the dwelling of +the proprietor is not unlike a roomy New England country house. +Worth's has been immemorially a stopping-place in a region where +places of accommodation are few. The proprietor, now an elderly man, +whose reminiscences are long ante bellum, has seen the world grow up +about him, he the honored, just center of it, and a family come up +into the modern notions of life, with a boarding-school education and +glimpses of city life and foreign travel. I fancy that nothing but +tradition and a remaining Southern hospitality could induce this +private family to suffer the incursions of this wayfaring man. Our +travelers are not apt to be surprised at anything in American life, +but they did not expect to find a house in this region with two +pianos and a bevy of young ladies, whose clothes were certainly not +made on Cut Laurel Gap, and to read in the books scattered about the +house the evidences of the finishing schools with which our country +is blessed, nor to find here pupils of the Stonewall Jackson +Institute at Abingdon. With a flush of local pride, the Professor +took up, in the roomy, pleasant chamber set apart for the guests, a +copy of Porter's "Elements of Moral Science." + +"Where you see the 'Elements of Moral Science,'" the Friend +generalized, "there'll be plenty of water and towels;" and the sign +did not fail. The friends intended to read this book in the cool of +the day; but as they sat on the long veranda, the voice of a maiden +reading the latest novel to a sewing group behind the blinds in the +drawing-room; and the antics of a mule and a boy in front of the +store opposite; and the arrival of a spruce young man, who had just +ridden over from somewhere, a matter of ten miles' gallop, to get a +medicinal potion for his sick mother, and lingered chatting with the +young ladies until we began to fear that his mother would recover +before his return; the coming and going of lean women in shackly +wagons to trade at the store; the coming home of the cows, splashing +through the stream, hooking right and left, and lowing for the hand +of the milker,--all these interruptions, together with the generally +drowsy quiet of the approach of evening, interfered with the study of +the Elements. And when the travelers, after a refreshing rest, went +on their way next morning, considering the Elements and the pianos +and the refinement, to say nothing of the cuisine, which is not +treated of in the text-book referred to, they were content with a +bill double that of brother Egger, in his brick magnificence. + +The simple truth is, that the traveler in this region must be content +to feed on natural beauties. And it is an unfortunate truth in +natural history that the appetite for this sort of diet fails after a +time, if the inner man is not supplied with other sort of food. +There is no landscape in the world that is agreeable after two days +of rusty-bacon and slack biscuit. + +"How lovely this would be," exclaimed the Professor, if it had a +background of beefsteak and coffee! + +We were riding along the west fork of the Laurel, distinguished +locally as Three Top Creek,--or, rather, we were riding in it, +crossing it thirty-one times within six miles; a charming wood (and +water) road, under the shade of fine trees with the rhododendron +illuminating the way, gleaming in the forest and reflected in the +stream, all the ten miles to Elk Cross Roads, our next destination. +We had heard a great deal about Elk Cross Roads; it was on the map, +it was down in the itinerary furnished by a member of the Coast +Survey. We looked forward to it as a sweet place of repose from the +noontide heat. Alas! Elk Cross Roads is a dirty grocery store, +encumbered with dry-goods boxes, fly-blown goods, flies, loafers. In +reply to our inquiry we were told that they had nothing to eat, for +us, and not a grain of feed for the horses. But there was a man a +mile farther on, who was well to do and had stores of food,--old man +Tatern would treat us in bang-up style. The difficulty of getting +feed for the horses was chronic all through the journey. The last +corn crop had failed, the new oats and corn had not come in, and the +country was literally barren. We had noticed all along that the hens +were taking a vacation, and that chickens were not put forward as an +article of diet. + +We were unable, when we reached the residence of old man Tatem, to +imagine how the local superstition of his wealth arose. His house is +of logs, with two rooms, a kitchen and a spare room, with a low loft +accessible by a ladder at the side of the chimney. The chimney is a +huge construction of stone, separating the two parts of the house; in +fact, the chimney was built first, apparently, and the two rooms were +then built against it. The proprietor sat in a little railed +veranda. These Southern verandas give an air to the meanest +dwelling, and they are much used; the family sit here, and here are +the washbasin and pail (which is filled from the neighboring spring- +house), and the row of milk-pans. The old man Tatern did not welcome +us with enthusiasm; he had no corn,--these were hard times. He +looked like hard times, grizzled times, dirty times. It seemed time +out of mind since he had seen comb or razor, and although the lovely +New River, along which we had ridden to his house,--a broad, inviting +stream,--was in sight across the meadow, there was no evidence that +he had ever made acquaintance with its cleansing waters. As to corn, +the necessities of the case and pay being dwelt on, perhaps he could +find a dozen ears. A dozen small cars he did find, and we trust that +the horses found them. + +We took a family dinner with old man Tatern in the kitchen, where +there was a bed and a stove,--a meal that the host seemed to enjoy, +but which we could not make much of, except the milk; that was good. +A painful meal, on the whole, owing to the presence in the room of a +grown-up daughter with a graveyard cough, without physician or +medicine, or comforts. Poor girl! just dying of "a misery." + +In the spare room were two beds; the walls were decorated with the +gay-colored pictures of patent-medicine advertisements--a favorite +art adornment of the region; and a pile of ancient illustrated papers +with the usual patent-office report, the thoughtful gift of the +member for the district. The old man takes in the "Blue Ridge +Baptist," a journal which we found largely taken up with the +experiences of its editor on his journeys roundabout in search of +subscribers. This newspaper was the sole communication of the family +with the world at large, but the old man thought he should stop it,-- +he did n't seem to get the worth of his money out of it. And old man +Tatem was a thrifty and provident man. On the hearth in this best +room--as ornaments or memento mori were a couple of marble +gravestones, a short headstone and foot-stone, mounted on bases and +ready for use, except the lettering. These may not have been so +mournful and significant as they looked, nor the evidence of simple, +humble faith; they may have been taken for debt. But as parlor +ornaments they had a fascination which we could not escape. + +It was while we were bathing in the New River, that afternoon, and +meditating on the grim, unrelieved sort of life of our host, that the +Professor said, "judging by the face of the 'Blue Ridge Baptist,' he +will charge us smartly for the few nubbins of corn and the milk." +The face did not deceive us; the charge was one dollar. At this rate +it would have broken us to have tarried with old man Tatem (perhaps +he is not old, but that is the name he goes by) over night. + +It was a hot afternoon, and it needed some courage to mount and climb +the sandy hill leading us away from the corn-crib of Tatem. But we +entered almost immediately into fine stretches of forest, and rode +under the shade of great oaks. The way, which began by the New +River, soon led us over the hills to the higher levels of Watauga +County. So far on our journey we had been hemmed in by low hills, +and without any distant or mountain outlooks. The excessive heat +seemed out of place at the elevation of over two thousand feet, on +which we were traveling. Boone, the county seat of Watauga County, +was our destination, and, ever since morning, the guideboards and the +trend of the roads had notified us that everything in this region +tends towards Boone as a center of interest. The simple ingenuity of +some of the guide-boards impressed us. If, on coming to a fork, the +traveler was to turn to the right, the sign read, + + To BOONE 10 M. +If he was to go to the left, it read, + .M 01 ENOOB oT + +A short ride of nine miles, on an ascending road, through an open, +unfenced forest region, brought us long before sundown to this +capital. When we had ridden into its single street, which wanders +over gentle hills, and landed at the most promising of the taverns, +the Friend informed his comrade that Boone was 3250 feet above +Albemarle Sound, and believed by its inhabitants to be the highest +village east of the Rocky Mountains. The Professor said that it +might be so, but it was a God-forsaken place. Its inhabitants +numbered perhaps two hundred and fifty, a few of them colored. It +had a gaunt, shaky court-house and jail, a store or two, and two +taverns. The two taverns are needed to accommodate the judges and +lawyers and their clients during the session of the court. The court +is the only excitement and the only amusement. It is the event from +which other events date. Everybody in the county knows exactly when +court sits, and when court breaks. During the session the whole +county is practically in Boone, men, women, and children. They camp +there, they attend the trials, they take sides; half of them, +perhaps, are witnesses, for the region is litigious, and the +neighborhood quarrels are entered into with spirit. To be fond of +lawsuits seems a characteristic of an isolated people in new +conditions. The early settlers of New England were. + +Notwithstanding the elevation of Boone, which insured a pure air, the +thermometer that afternoon stood at from 85 to 89 deg. The flies +enjoyed it. How they swarmed in this tavern! They would have +carried off all the food from the dining-room table (for flies do not +mind eating off oilcloth, and are not particular how food is cooked), +but for the machine with hanging flappers that swept the length of +it; and they destroy all possibility of sleep except in the dark. +The mountain regions of North Carolina are free from mosquitoes, but +the fly has settled there, and is the universal scourge. This +tavern, one end of which was a store, had a veranda in front, and a +back gallery, where there were evidences of female refinement in pots +of plants and flowers. The landlord himself kept tavern very much as +a hostler would, but we had to make a note in his favor that he had +never heard of a milk punch. And it might as well be said here, for +it will have to be insisted on later, that the traveler, who has read +about the illicit stills till his imagination dwells upon the +indulgence of his vitiated tastes in the mountains of North Carolina, +is doomed to disappointment. If he wants to make himself an +exception to the sober people whose cooking will make him long for +the maddening bowl, he must bring his poison with him. We had found +no bread since we left Virginia; we had seen cornmeal and water, +slack-baked; we had seen potatoes fried in grease, and bacon +incrusted with salt (all thirst-provokers), but nothing to drink +stronger than buttermilk. And we can say that, so far as our example +is concerned, we left the country as temperate as we found it. How +can there be mint juleps (to go into details) without ice? and in the +summer there is probably not a pound of ice in all the State north of +Buncombe County. + +There is nothing special to be said about Boone. We were anxious to +reach it, we were glad to leave it; we note as to all these places +that our joy at departing always exceeds that on arriving, which is a +merciful provision of nature for people who must keep moving. This +country is settled by genuine Americans, who have the aboriginal +primitive traits of the universal Yankee nation. The front porch in +the morning resembled a carpenter's shop; it was literally covered +with the whittlings of the row of natives who had spent the evening +there in the sedative occupation of whittling. + +We took that morning a forest road to Valle Crusis, seven miles, +through noble growths of oaks, chestnuts, hemlocks, rhododendrons,--a +charming wood road, leading to a place that, as usual, did not keep +the promise of its name. Valle Crusis has a blacksmith shop and a +dirty, flyblown store. While the Professor consulted the blacksmith +about a loose shoe, the Friend carried his weariness of life without +provisions up to a white house on the hill, and negotiated for boiled +milk. This house was occupied by flies. They must have numbered +millions, settled in black swarms, covering tables, beds, walls, the +veranda; the kitchen was simply a hive of them. The only book in +sight, Whewell's--Elements of Morality," seemed to attract flies. +Query, Why should this have such a different effect from Porter's? A +white house,--a pleasant-looking house at a distance,--amiable, +kindly people in it,--why should we have arrived there on its dirty +day? Alas! if we had been starving, Valle Crusis had nothing to +offer us. + +So we rode away, in the blazing heat, no poetry exuding from the +Professor, eight miles to Banner's Elk, crossing a mountain and +passing under Hanging Rock, a conspicuous feature in the landscape, +and the only outcropping of rock we had seen: the face of a ledge, +rounded up into the sky, with a green hood on it. From the summit we +had the first extensive prospect during our journey. The road can be +described as awful,--steep, stony, the horses unable to make two +miles an hour on it. Now and then we encountered a rude log cabin +without barns or outhouses, and a little patch of feeble corn. The +women who regarded the passers from their cabin doors were frowzy and +looked tired. What with the heat and the road and this discouraged +appearance of humanity, we reached the residence of Dugger, at +Banner's Elk, to which we had been directed, nearly exhausted. It is +no use to represent this as a dash across country on impatient +steeds. It was not so. The love of truth is stronger than the +desire of display. And for this reason it is impossible to say that +Mr. Dugger, who is an excellent man, lives in a clean and attractive +house, or that he offers much that the pampered child of civilization +can eat. But we shall not forget the two eggs, fresh from the hens, +whose temperature must have been above the normal, nor the spring- +house in the glen, where we found a refuge from the flies and the +heat. The higher we go, the hotter it is. Banner's Elk boasts an +elevation of thirty-five to thirty-seven hundred feet. + +We were not sorry, towards sunset, to descend along the Elk River +towards Cranberry Forge. The Elk is a lovely stream, and, though not +very clear, has a reputation for trout; but all this region was under +operation of a three-years game law, to give the trout a chance to +multiply, and we had no opportunity to test the value of its +reputation. Yet a boy whom we encountered had a good string of +quarter-pound trout, which he had taken out with a hook and a feather +rudely tied on it, to resemble a fly. The road, though not to be +commended, was much better than that of the morning, the forests grew +charming in the cool of the evening, the whippoorwill sang, and as +night fell the wanderers, in want of nearly everything that makes +life desirable, stopped at the Iron Company's hotel, under the +impression that it was the only comfortable hotel in North Carolina. + + + + +II + +Cranberry Forge is the first wedge of civilization fairly driven into +the northwest mountains of North Carolina. A narrow-gauge railway, +starting from Johnson City, follows up the narrow gorge of the Doe +River, and pushes into the heart of the iron mines at Cranberry, +where there is a blast furnace; and where a big company store, rows +of tenement houses, heaps of slag and refuse ore, interlacing tracks, +raw embankments, denuded hillsides, and a blackened landscape, are +the signs of a great devastating American enterprise. The Cranberry +iron is in great esteem, as it has the peculiar quality of the +Swedish iron. There are remains of old furnaces lower down the +stream, which we passed on our way. The present "plant" is that of a +Philadelphia company, whose enterprise has infused new life into all +this region, made it accessible, and spoiled some pretty scenery. + +When we alighted, weary, at the gate of the pretty hotel, which +crowns a gentle hill and commands a pleasing, evergreen prospect of +many gentle hills, a mile or so below the works, and wholly removed +from all sordid associations, we were at the point of willingness +that the whole country should be devastated by civilization. In the +local imagination this hotel of the company is a palace of unequaled +magnificence, but probably its good taste, comfort, and quiet +elegance are not appreciated after all. There is this to be said +about Philadelphia,--and it will go far in pleading for it in the +Last Day against its monotonous rectangularity and the babel-like +ambition of its Public Building,--that wherever its influence +extends, there will be found comfortable lodgings and the luxury of +an undeniably excellent cuisine. The visible seal that Philadelphia +sets on its enterprise all through the South is a good hotel. + +This Cottage Beautiful has on two sides a wide veranda, set about +with easy chairs; cheerful parlors and pretty chambers, finished in +native woods, among which are conspicuous the satin stripes of the +cucumber-tree; luxurious beds, and an inviting table ordered by a +Philadelphia landlady, who knows a beefsteak from a boot-tap. Is it +"low" to dwell upon these things of the senses, when one is on a tour +in search of the picturesque? Let the reader ride from Abingdon +through a wilderness of cornpone and rusty bacon, and then judge. +There were, to be sure, novels lying about, and newspapers, and +fragments of information to be picked up about a world into which the +travelers seemed to emerge. They, at least, were satisfied, and went +off to their rooms with the restful feeling that they had arrived +somewhere) and no unquiet spirit at morn would say "to horse." To +sleep, perchance to dream of Tatem and his household cemetery; and +the Professor was heard muttering in his chamber, + + "Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, + The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; + But then begins a journey in my head, + To work my mind, when body's work's expir'd." + +The morning was warm (the elevation of the hotel must be between +twenty-five hundred and three thousand feet), rainy, mildly rainy; +and the travelers had nothing better to do than lounge upon the +veranda, read feeble ten-cent fictions, and admire the stems of the +white birches, glistening in the moisture, and the rhododendron- +trees, twenty feet high, which were shaking off their last pink +blossoms, and look down into the valley of the Doe. It is not an +exciting landscape, nothing bold or specially wild in it, but restful +with the monotony of some of the wooded Pennsylvania hills. + +Sunday came up smiling, a lovely day, but offering no church +privileges, for the ordinance of preaching is only occasional in this +region. The ladies of the hotel have, however, gathered in the +valley a Sunday-school of fifty children from the mountain cabins. A +couple of rainy days, with the thermometer rising to 80 deg., +combined with natural laziness to detain the travelers in this +cottage of ease. They enjoyed this the more because it was on their +consciences that they should visit Linville Falls, some twenty-five +miles eastward, long held up before them as the most magnificent +feature of this region, and on no account to be omitted. Hence, +naturally, a strong desire to omit it. The Professor takes bold +ground against these abnormal freaks of nature, and it was nothing to +him that the public would demand that we should see Linville Falls. +In the first place, we could find no one who had ever seen them, and +we spent two days in catechizing natives and strangers. The nearest +we came to information was from a workman at the furnace, who was +born and raised within three miles of the Falls. He had heard of +people going there. He had never seen them himself. It was a good +twenty-five miles there, over the worst road in the State we'd think +it thirty before we got there. Fifty miles of such travel to see a +little water run down-hill! The travelers reflected. Every country +has a local waterfall of which it boasts; they had seen a great many. +One more would add little to the experience of life. The vagueness +of information, to be sure, lured the travelers to undertake the +journey; but the temptation was resisted--something ought to be left +for the next explorer--and so Linville remains a thing of the +imagination. + +Towards evening, July 29, between showers, the Professor and the +Friend rode along the narrow-gauge road, down Johnson's Creek, to +Roan Station, the point of departure for ascending Roan Mountain. It +was a ride of an hour and a half over a fair road, fringed with +rhododendrons, nearly blossomless; but at a point on the stream this +sturdy shrub had formed a long bower where under a table might have +been set for a temperance picnic, completely overgrown with wild +grape, and still gay with bloom. The habitations on the way are +mostly board shanties and mean frame cabins, but the railway is +introducing ambitious architecture here and there in the form of +ornamental filigree work on flimsy houses; ornamentation is apt to +precede comfort in our civilization. + +Roan Station is on the Doe River (which flows down from Roan +Mountain), and is marked at 1265 feet above the sea. The visitor +will find here a good hotel, with open wood fires (not ungrateful in +a July evening), and obliging people. This railway from Johnson +City, hanging on the edge of the precipices that wall the gorge of +the Doe, is counted in this region by the inhabitants one of the +engineering wonders of the world. The tourist is urged by all means +to see both it and Linville Falls. + +The tourist on horseback, in search of exercise and recreation, is +not probably expected to take stock of moral conditions. But this +Mitchell County, although it was a Union county during the war and is +Republican in politics (the Southern reader will perhaps prefer +another adverb to "although"), has had the worst possible reputation. +The mountains were hiding-places of illicit distilleries; the woods +were full of grog-shanties, where the inflaming fluid was sold as +"native brandy," quarrels and neighborhood difficulties were +frequent, and the knife and pistol were used on the slightest +provocation. Fights arose about boundaries and the title to mica +mines, and with the revenue officers; and force was the arbiter of +all disputes. Within the year four murders were committed in the +sparsely settled county. Travel on any of the roads was unsafe. The +tone of morals was what might be expected with such lawlessness. A +lady who came up on the road on the 4th of July, when an excursion +party of country people took possession of the cars, witnessed a +scene and heard language past belief. Men, women, and children drank +from whisky bottles that continually circulated, and a wild orgy +resulted. Profanity, indecent talk on topics that even the license +of the sixteenth century would not have tolerated, and freedom of +manners that even Teniers would have shrunk from putting on canvas, +made the journey horrible. + +The unrestrained license of whisky and assault and murder had +produced a reaction a few months previous to our visit. The people +had risen up in their indignation and broken up the groggeries. So +far as we observed temperance prevailed, backed by public-opinion. +In our whole ride through the mountain region we saw only one or two +places where liquor was sold. + +It is called twelve miles from Roan Station to Roan Summit. The +distance is probably nearer fourteen, and our horses were five hours +in walking it. For six miles the road runs by Doe River, here a +pretty brook shaded with laurel and rhododendron, and a few +cultivated patches of ground, and infrequent houses. It was a blithe +morning, and the horsemen would have given full indulgence to the +spirit of adventure but for the attitude of the Professor towards +mountains. It was not with him a matter of feeling, but of +principle, not to ascend them. But here lay Roan, a long, sprawling +ridge, lifting itself 6250 feet up into the sky. Impossible to go +around it, and the other side must be reached. The Professor was +obliged to surrender, and surmount a difficulty which he could not +philosophize out of his mind. + +>From the base of the mountain a road is very well engineered, in easy +grades for carriages, to the top; but it was in poor repair and +stony. We mounted slowly through splendid forests, specially of fine +chestnuts and hemlocks. This big timber continues till within a mile +and a half of the summit by the winding road, really within a short +distance of the top. Then there is a narrow belt of scrubby +hardwood, moss-grown, and then large balsams, which crown the +mountain. As soon as we came out upon the southern slope we found +great open spaces, covered with succulent grass, and giving excellent +pasturage to cattle. These rich mountain meadows are found on all +the heights of this region. The surface of Roan is uneven, and has +no one culminating peak that commands the country, like the peak of +Mount Washington, but several eminences within its range of probably +a mile and a half, where various views can be had. Near the highest +point, sheltered from the north by balsams, stands a house of +entertainment, with a detached cottage, looking across the great +valley to the Black Mountain range. The surface of the mountain is +pebbly, but few rocks crop out; no ledges of any size are seen except +at a distance from the hotel, on the north side, and the mountain +consequently lacks that savage, unsubduable aspect which the White +Hills of New Hampshire have. It would, in fact, have been difficult +to realize that we were over six thousand feet above the sea, except +for that pallor in the sunlight, that atmospheric thinness and want +of color which is an unpleasant characteristic of high altitudes. To +be sure, there is a certain brilliancy in the high air,--it is apt to +be foggy on Roan,--and objects appear in sharp outline, but I have +often experienced on such places that feeling of melancholy, which +would, of course, deepen upon us all if we were sensible that the sun +was gradually withdrawing its power of warmth and light. The black +balsam is neither a cheerful nor a picturesque tree; the frequent +rains and mists on Roan keep the grass and mosses green, but the +ground damp. Doubtless a high mountain covered with vegetation has +its compensation, but for me the naked granite rocks in sun and +shower are more cheerful. + +The advantage of Roan is that one can live there and be occupied for +a long time in mineral and botanical study. Its mild climate, +moisture, and great elevation make it unique in this country for the +botanist. The variety of plants assembled there is very large, and +there are many, we were told, never or rarely found elsewhere in the +United States. At any rate, the botanists rave about Roan Mountain, +and spend weeks at a time on it. We found there ladies who could +draw for us Grey's lily (then passed), and had kept specimens of the +rhododendron (not growing elsewhere in this region) which has a deep +red, almost purple color. + +The hotel (since replaced by a good house) was a rude mountain +structure, with a couple of comfortable rooms for office and sitting- +room, in which big wood fires were blazing; for though the +thermometer might record 60 deg., as it did when we arrived, fire was +welcome. Sleeping-places partitioned off in the loft above gave the +occupants a feeling of camping out, all the conveniences being +primitive; and when the wind rose in the night and darkness, and the +loose boards rattled and the timbers creaked, the sensation was not +unlike that of being at sea. The hotel was satisfactorily kept, and +Southern guests, from as far south as New Orleans, were spending the +season there, and not finding time hang heavy on their hands. This +statement is perhaps worth more than pages of description as to the +character of Roan, and its contrast to Mount Washington. + +The summer weather is exceedingly uncertain on all these North +Carolina mountains; they are apt at any moment to be enveloped in +mist; and it would rather rain on them than not. On the afternoon of +our arrival there was fine air and fair weather, but not a clear sky. +The distance was hazy, but the outlines were preserved. We could see +White Top, in Virginia; Grandfather Mountain, a long serrated range; +the twin towers of Linville; and the entire range of the Black +Mountains, rising from the valley, and apparently lower than we were. +They get the name of Black from the balsams which cover the summits. + +The rain on Roan was of less annoyance by reason of the delightful +company assembled at the hotel, which was in a manner at home there, +and, thrown upon its own resources, came out uncommonly strong in +agreeableness. There was a fiddle in the house, which had some of +the virtues of that celebrated in the history of old Mark Langston; +the Professor was enabled to produce anything desired out of the +literature of the eighteenth century; and what with the repartee of +bright women, big wood fires, reading, and chat, there was no dull +day or evening on Roan. I can fancy, however, that it might tire in +time, if one were not a botanist, without the resource of women's +society. The ladies staying here were probably all accomplished +botanists, and the writer is indebted to one of them for a list of +plants found on Roan, among which is an interesting weed, catalogued +as Humana, perplexia negligens. The species is, however, common +elsewhere. + +The second morning opened, after a night of high wind, with a +thunder-shower. After it passed, the visitors tried to reach Eagle +Cliff, two miles off, whence an extensive western prospect is had, +but were driven back by a tempest, and rain practically occupied the +day. Now and then through the parted clouds we got a glimpse of a +mountain-side, or the gleam of a valley. On the lower mountains, at +wide intervals apart, were isolated settlements, commonly a wretched +cabin and a spot of girdled trees. A clergyman here, not long ago, +undertook to visit some of these cabins and carry his message to +them. In one wretched hut of logs he found a poor woman, with whom, +after conversation on serious subjects, he desired to pray. She +offered no objection, and he kneeled down and prayed. The woman +heard him, and watched him for some moments with curiosity, in an +effort to ascertain what he was doing, and then said : + +"Why, a man did that when he put my girl in a hole." + +Towards night the wind hauled round from the south to the northwest, +and we went to High Bluff, a point on the north edge, where some +rocks are piled up above the evergreens, to get a view of the sunset. +In every direction the mountains were clear, and a view was obtained +of the vast horizon and the hills and lowlands of several States--a +continental prospect, scarcely anywhere else equaled for variety or +distance. The grandeur of mountains depends mostly on the state of +the atmosphere. Grandfather loomed up much more loftily than the day +before, the giant range of the Blacks asserted itself in grim +inaccessibility, and we could see, a small pyramid on the southwest +horizon, King's Mountain in South Carolina, estimated to be distant +one hundred and fifty miles. To the north Roan falls from this point +abruptly, and we had, like a map below us, the low country all the +way into Virginia. The clouds lay like lakes in the valleys of the +lower hills, and in every direction were ranges of mountains wooded +to the summits. Off to the west by south lay the Great Smoky +Mountains, disputing eminence with the Blacks. + +Magnificent and impressive as the spectacle was, we were obliged to +contrast it unfavorably with that of the White Hills. The rock here +is a sort of sand or pudding stone; there is no limestone or granite. +And all the hills are tree-covered. To many this clothing of verdure +is most restful and pleasing. I missed the sharp outlines, the +delicate artistic sky lines, sharply defined in uplifted bare granite +peaks and ridges, with the purple and violet color of the northern +mountains, and which it seems to me that limestone and granite +formations give. There are none of the great gorges and awful +abysses of the White Mountains, both valleys and mountains here being +more uniform in outline. There are few precipices and jutting crags, +and less is visible of the giant ribs and bones of the planet. + +Yet Roan is a noble mountain. A lady from Tennessee asked me if I +had ever seen anything to compare with it--she thought there could be +nothing in the world. One has to dodge this sort of question in the +South occasionally, not to offend a just local pride. It is +certainly one of the most habitable of big mountains. It is roomy on +top, there is space to move about without too great fatigue, and one +might pleasantly spend a season there, if he had agreeable company +and natural tastes. + +Getting down from Roan on the south side is not as easy as ascending +on the north; the road for five miles to the foot of the mountain is +merely a river of pebbles, gullied by the heavy rains, down which the +horses picked their way painfully. The travelers endeavored to +present a dashing and cavalier appearance to the group of ladies who +waved good-by from the hotel, as they took their way over the waste +and wind-blown declivities, but it was only a show, for the horses +would neither caracole nor champ the bit (at a dollar a day) down- +hill over the slippery stones, and, truth to tell, the wanderers +turned with regret from the society of leisure and persiflage to face +the wilderness of Mitchell County. + +"How heavy," exclaimed the Professor, pricking Laura Matilda to call +her attention sharply to her footing + + "How heavy do I journey on the way, + When what I seek--my weary travel's end + Doth teach that ease and that repose to say, + Thus far the miles are measur'd from thy friend! + The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, + Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, + As if by some instinct the wretch did know + His rider loved not speed, being made from thee: + The bloody spur cannot provoke him on + That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, + Which heavily he answers with a groan, + More sharp to me than spurring to his side; + For that same groan doth put this in my mind; + My grief lies onward and my joy behind." + +This was not spoken to the group who fluttered their farewells, but +poured out to the uncomplaining forest, which rose up in ever +statelier--and grander ranks to greet the travelers as they +descended--the silent, vast forest, without note of bird or chip of +squirrel, only the wind tossing the great branches high overhead in +response to the sonnet. Is there any region or circumstance of life +that the poet did not forecast and provide for? But what would have +been his feelings if he could have known that almost three centuries +after these lines were penned, they would be used to express the +emotion of an unsentimental traveler in the primeval forests of the +New World? At any rate, he peopled the New World with the children +of his imagination. And, thought the Friend, whose attention to his +horse did not permit him to drop into poetry, Shakespeare might have +had a vision of this vast continent, though he did not refer to it, +when he exclaimed: + + "What is your substance, whereof are you made, + That millions of strange shadows on you tend?" + +Bakersville, the capital of Mitchell County, is eight miles from the +top of Roan, and the last three miles of the way the horsemen found +tolerable going, over which the horses could show their paces. The +valley looked fairly thrifty and bright, and was a pleasing +introduction to Bakersville, a pretty place in the hills, of some six +hundred inhabitants, with two churches, three indifferent hotels, and +a court-house. This mountain town, 255O feet above the sea, is said +to have a decent winter climate, with little snow, favorable to +fruit-growing, and, by contrast with New England, encouraging to +people with weak lungs. + +This is the center of the mica mining, and of considerable excitement +about minerals. All around, the hills are spotted with "diggings." +Most of the mines which yield well show signs of having been worked +before, a very long time ago, no doubt by the occupants before the +Indians. The mica is of excellent quality and easily mined. It is +got out in large irregular-shaped blocks and transported to the +factories, where it is carefully split by hand, and the laminae, of +as large size as can be obtained, are trimmed with shears and tied up +in packages for market. The quantity of refuse, broken, and rotten +mica piled up about the factories is immense, and all the roads round +about glisten with its scales. Garnets are often found imbedded in +the laminae, flattened by the extreme pressure to which the mass was +subjected. It is fascinating material, this mica, to handle, and we +amused ourselves by experimenting on the thinness to which its scales +could be reduced by splitting. It was at Bakersville that we saw +specimens of mica that resembled the delicate tracery in the moss- +agate and had the iridescent sheen of the rainbow colors--the most +delicate greens, reds, blues, purples, and gold, changing from one to +the other in the reflected light. In the texture were the tracings +of fossil forms of ferns and the most exquisite and delicate +vegetable beauty of the coal age. But the magnet shows this tracery +to be iron. We were shown also emeralds and "diamonds," picked up in +this region, and there is a mild expectation in all the inhabitants +of great mineral treasure. A singular product of the region is the +flexible sandstone. It is a most uncanny stone. A slip of it a +couple of feet long and an inch in diameter each way bends in the +hand like a half-frozen snake. This conduct of a substance that we +have been taught to regard as inflexible impairs one's confidence in +the stability of nature and affects him as an earthquake does. + +This excitement over mica and other minerals has the usual effect of +starting up business and creating bad blood. Fortunes have been +made, and lost in riotous living; scores of visionary men have been +disappointed; lawsuits about titles and claims have multiplied, and +quarrels ending in murder have been frequent in the past few years. +The mica and the illicit whisky have worked together to make this +region one of lawlessness and violence. The travelers were told +stories of the lack of common morality and decency in the region, but +they made no note of them. And, perhaps fortunately, they were not +there during court week to witness the scenes of license that were +described. This court week, which draws hither the whole population, +is a sort of Saturnalia. Perhaps the worst of this is already a +thing of the past; for the outrages a year before had reached such a +pass that by a common movement the sale of whisky was stopped (not +interdicted, but stopped), and not a drop of liquor could be bought +in Bakersville nor within three miles of it. + +The jail at Bakersville is a very simple residence. The main +building is brick, two stories high and about twelve feet square. +The walls are so loosely laid up that it seems as if a colored +prisoner might butt his head through. Attached to this is a room for +the jailer. In the lower room is a wooden cage, made of logs bolted +together and filled with spikes, nine feet by ten feet square and +perhaps seven or eight feet high. Between this cage and the wall is +a space of eighteen inches in width. It has a narrow door, and an +opening through which the food is passed to the prisoners, and a +conduit leading out of it. Of course it soon becomes foul, and in +warm weather somewhat warm. A recent prisoner, who wanted more +ventilation than the State allowed him, found some means, by a loose +plank, I think, to batter a hole in the outer wall opposite the +window in the cage, and this ragged opening, seeming to the jailer a +good sanitary arrangement, remains. Two murderers occupied this +apartment at the time of our visit. During the recent session of +court, ten men had been confined in this narrow space, without room +enough for them to lie down together. The cage in the room above, a +little larger, had for tenant a person who was jailed for some +misunderstanding about an account, and who was probably innocent-- +from the jailer's statement. This box is a wretched residence, month +after month, while awaiting trial. + +We learned on inquiry that it is practically impossible to get a jury +to convict of murder in this region, and that these admitted felons +would undoubtedly escape. We even heard that juries were purchasable +here, and that a man's success in court depended upon the length of +his purse. This is such an unheard-of thing that we refused to +credit it. When the Friend attempted to arouse the indignation of +the Professor about the barbarity of this jail, the latter defended +it on the ground that as confinement was the only punishment that +murderers were likely to receive in this region, it was well to make +their detention disagreeable to them. But the Friend did not like +this wild-beast cage for men, and could only exclaim, + +"Oh, murder! what crimes are done in thy name." + +If the comrades wished an adventure, they had a small one, more +interesting to them than to the public, the morning they left +Bakersville to ride to Burnsville, which sets itself up as the +capital of Yancey. The way for the first three miles lay down a +small creek and in a valley fairly settled, the houses, a store, and +a grist-mill giving evidence of the new enterprise of the region. +When Toe River was reached, there was a choice of routes. We might +ford the Toe at that point, where the river was wide, but shallow, +and the crossing safe, and climb over the mountain by a rough but +sightly road, or descend the stream by a better road and ford the +river at a place rather dangerous to those unfamiliar with it. The +danger attracted us, but we promptly chose the hill road on account +of the views, for we were weary of the limited valley prospects. + +The Toe River, even here, where it bears westward, is a very +respectable stream in size, and not to be trifled with after a +shower. It gradually turns northward, and, joining the Nollechucky, +becomes part of the Tennessee system. We crossed it by a long, +diagonal ford, slipping and sliding about on the round stones, and +began the ascent of a steep hill. The sun beat down unmercifully, +the way was stony, and the horses did not relish the weary climbing. +The Professor, who led the way, not for the sake of leadership, but +to be the discoverer of laden blackberry bushes, which began to offer +occasional refreshment, discouraged by the inhospitable road and +perhaps oppressed by the moral backwardness of things in general, +cried out: + + "Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,-- + As, to behold desert a beggar born, + And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, + And purest faith unhappily foresworn, + And gilded honor shamefully misplaced, + And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, + And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, + And strength by limping sway disabled, + And art made tongue-tied by authority, + And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, + And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, + And captive good attending captain ill: + Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, + Save that, to die, I leave my love alone." + +In the midst of a lively discussion of this pessimistic view of the +inequalities of life, in which desert and capacity are so often put +at disadvantage by birth in beggarly conditions, and brazen +assumption raises the dust from its chariot wheels for modest merit +to plod along in, the Professor swung himself off his horse to attack +a blackberry bush, and the Friend, representing simple truth, and +desirous of getting a wider prospect, urged his horse up the hill. +At the top he encountered a stranger, on a sorrel horse, with whom he +entered into conversation and extracted all the discouragement the +man had as to the road to Burnsville. + +Nevertheless, the view opened finely and extensively. There are few +exhilarations comparable to that of riding or walking along a high +ridge, and the spirits of the traveler rose many degrees above the +point of restful death, for which the Professor was crying when he +encountered the blackberry bushes. Luckily the Friend soon fell in +with a like temptation, and dismounted. He discovered something that +spoiled his appetite for berries. His coat, strapped on behind the +saddle, had worked loose, the pocket was open, and the pocket-book +was gone. This was serious business. For while the Professor was +the cashier, and traveled like a Rothschild, with large drafts, the +Friend represented the sub-treasury. That very morning, in response +to inquiry as to the sinews of travel, the Friend had displayed, +without counting, a roll of bills. These bills had now disappeared, +and when the Friend turned back to communicate his loss, in the +character of needy nothing not trimm'd in jollity, he had a +sympathetic listener to the tale of woe. + +Going back on such a journey is the woefulest experience, but retrace +our steps we must. Perhaps the pocket-book lay in the road not half +a mile back. But not in half a mile, or a mile, was it found. +Probably, then, the man on the sorrel horse had picked it up. But +who was the man on the sorrel horse, and where had he gone? Probably +the coat worked loose in crossing Toe River and the pocket-book had +gone down-stream. The number of probabilities was infinite, and each +more plausible than the others as it occurred to us. We inquired at +every house we had passed on the way, we questioned every one we met. +At length it began to seem improbable that any one would remember if +he had picked up a pocketbook that morning. This is just the sort of +thing that slips an untrained memory. + +At a post office or doctor's shop, or inn for drovers, it might be +either or neither, where several horses were tied to the fence,, and +a group of men were tilted back in cane chairs on the veranda, we +unfolded our misfortune and made particular inquiries for a man on a +sorrel horse. Yes, such a man, David Thomas by name, had just ridden +towards Bakersville. If he had found the pocket-book, we would +recover it. He was an honest man. It might, however, fall into +hands that would freeze to it. + +Upon consultation, it was the general verdict that there were men in +the county who would keep it if they had picked it up. But the +assembly manifested the liveliest interest in the incident. One +suggested Toe River. Another thought it risky to drop a purse on any +road. But there was a chorus of desire expressed that we should find +it, and in this anxiety was exhibited a decided sensitiveness about +the honor of Mitchell County. It seemed too bad that a stranger +should go away with the impression that it was not safe to leave +money anywhere in it. We felt very much obliged for this genuine +sympathy, and we told them that if a pocket-book were lost in this +way on a Connecticut road, there would be felt no neighborhood +responsibility for it, and that nobody would take any interest in the +incident except the man who lost, and the man who found. + +By the time the travelers pulled up at a store in Bakersville they +had lost all expectation of recovering the missing article, and were +discussing the investment of more money in an advertisement in the +weekly newspaper of the capital. The Professor, whose reform +sentiments agreed with those of the newspaper, advised it. There was +a group of idlers, mica acquaintances of the morning, and +philosophers in front of the store, and the Friend opened the +colloquy by asking if a man named David Thomas had been seen in town. +He was in town, had ridden in within an hour, and his brother, who +was in the group, would go in search of him. The information was +then given of the loss, and that the rider had met David Thomas just +before it was discovered, on the mountain beyond the Toe. The news +made a sensation, and by the time David Thomas appeared a crowd of a +hundred had drawn around the horsemen eager for further developments. +Mr. Thomas was the least excited of the group as he took his position +on the sidewalk, conscious of the dignity of the occasion and that he +was about to begin a duel in which both reputation and profit were +concerned. He recollected meeting the travelers in the morning. + +The Friend said, "I discovered that I had lost my purse just after +meeting you; it may have been dropped in Toe River, but I was told +back here that if David Thomas had picked it up, it was as safe as if +it were in the bank." + +"What sort of a pocket-book was it?" asked Mr. Thomas. + +"It was of crocodile skin, or what is sold for that, very likely it +is an imitation, and about so large indicating the size." + +"What had it in it?" + +"Various things. Some specimens of mica; some bank checks, some +money." + +"Anything else?" + +"Yes, a photograph. And, oh, something that I presume is not in +another pocket-book in North Carolina,--in an envelope, a lock of the +hair of George Washington, the Father of his Country." Sensation +mixed with incredulity. Washington's hair did seem such an odd part +of an outfit for a journey of this kind. + +"How much money was in it?" + +"That I cannot say, exactly. I happen to remember four twenty-dollar +United States notes, and a roll of small bills, perhaps something +over a hundred dollars." + +"Is that the pocket-book?" asked David Thomas, slowly pulling the +loved and lost out of his trousers pocket. + +"It is." + +"You'd be willing to take your oath on it?" + +"I should be delighted to." + +"Well, I guess there ain't so much money in it. You can count it +[handing it over]; there hain't been nothing taken out. I can't +read, but my friend here counted it over, and he says there ain't as +much as that." + +Intense interest in the result of the counting. One hundred and ten +dollars! The Friend selected one of the best engraved of the notes, +and appealed to the crowd if they thought that was the square thing +to do. They did so think, and David Thomas said it was abundant. +And then said the Friend : + +"I'm exceedingly grateful to you besides. Washington's hair is +getting scarce, and I did not want to lose these few hairs, gray as +they are. You've done the honest thing, Mr. Thomas, as was expected +of you. You might have kept the whole. But I reckon if there had +been five hundred dollars in the book and you had kept it, it +wouldn't have done you half as much good as giving it up has done; +and your reputation as an honest man is worth a good deal more than +this pocket-book. [The Professor was delighted with this sentiment, +because it reminded him of a Sunday-school.] I shall go away with a +high opinion of the honesty of Mitchell County." + +"Oh, he lives in Yancey," cried two or three voices. At which there +was a great laugh. + +"Well, I wondered where he came from." And the Mitchell County +people laughed again at their own expense, and the levee broke up. +It was exceedingly gratifying, as we spread the news of the recovered +property that afternoon at every house on our way to the Toe, to see +what pleasure it gave. Every man appeared to feel that the honor of +the region had been on trial--and had stood the test. + +The eighteen miles to Burnsville had now to be added to the morning +excursion, but the travelers were in high spirits, feeling the truth +of the adage that it is better to have loved and lost, than never to +have lost at all. They decided, on reflection, to join company with +the mail-rider, who was going to Burnsville by the shorter route, and +could pilot them over the dangerous ford of the Toe. + +The mail-rider was a lean, sallow, sinewy man, mounted on a sorry +sorrel nag, who proved, however, to have blood in her, and to be a +fast walker and full of endurance. The mail-rider was taciturn, a +natural habit for a man who rides alone the year round, over a lonely +road, and has nothing whatever to think of. He had been in the war +sixteen months, in Hugh White's regiment,--reckon you've heerd of +him? + +"Confederate?" + +"Which?" + +"Was he on the Union or Confederate side?" + +"Oh, Union." + +"Were you in any engagements?" + +"Which?" + +"Did you have any fighting?" + +"Not reg'lar." + +"What did you do?" + +"Which?" + +"What did you do in Hugh White's regiment?" + +"Oh, just cavorted round the mountains." + +"You lived on the country?" + +"Which?" + +"Picked up what you could find, corn, bacon, horses?" + +"That's about so. Did n't make much difference which side was round, +the country got cleaned out." + +"Plunder seems to have been the object?" + +"Which?" + +"You got a living out of the farmers?" + +"You bet." + +Our friend and guide seemed to have been a jayhawker and mountain +marauder--on the right side. His attachment to the word "which" +prevented any lively flow of conversation, and there seemed to be +only two trains of ideas running in his mind: one was the subject of +horses and saddles, and the other was the danger of the ford we were +coming to, and he exhibited a good deal of ingenuity in endeavoring +to excite our alarm. He returned to the ford from every other +conversational excursion, and after every silence. + +I do' know's there 's any great danger; not if you know the ford. +Folks is carried away there. The Toe gits up sudden. There's been +right smart rain lately. + +If you're afraid, you can git set over in a dugout, and I'll take +your horses across. Mebbe you're used to fording? It's a pretty bad +ford for them as don't know it. But you'll get along if you mind +your eye. There's some rocks you'll have to look out for. But +you'll be all right if you follow me." + +Not being very successful in raising an interest in the dangers of +his ford, although he could not forego indulging a malicious pleasure +in trying to make the strangers uncomfortable, he finally turned his +attention to a trade. "This hoss of mine," he said, "is just the +kind of brute-beast you want for this country. Your hosses is too +heavy. How'll you swap for that one o' yourn?" The reiterated +assertion that the horses were not ours, that they were hired, made +little impression on him. All the way to Burnsville he kept +referring to the subject of a trade. The instinct of "swap" was +strong in him. When we met a yoke of steers, he turned round and +bantered the owner for a trade. Our saddles took his fancy. They +were of the army pattern, and he allowed that one of them would just +suit him. He rode a small flat English pad, across which was flung +the United States mail pouch, apparently empty. He dwelt upon the +fact that his saddle was new and ours were old, and the advantages +that would accrue to us from the exchange. He did n't care if they +had been through the war, as they had, for he fancied an army saddle. +The Friend answered for himself that the saddle he rode belonged to a +distinguished Union general, and had a bullet in it that was put +there by a careless Confederate in the first battle of Bull Run, and +the owner would not part with it for money. But the mail-rider said +he did n't mind that. He would n't mind swapping his new saddle for +my old one and the rubber coat and leggings. Long before we reached +the ford we thought we would like to swap the guide, even at the, +risk of drowning. The ford was passed, in due time, with no +inconvenience save that of wet feet, for the stream was breast high +to the horses; but being broad and swift and full of sunken rocks and +slippery stones, and the crossing tortuous, it is not a ford to be +commended. There is a curious delusion that a rider has in crossing +a swift broad stream. It is that he is rapidly drifting up-stream, +while in fact the tendency of the horse is to go with the current. + +The road in the afternoon was not unpicturesque, owing to the streams +and the ever noble forests, but the prospect was always very limited. +Agriculturally, the country was mostly undeveloped. The travelers +endeavored to get from the rider an estimate of the price of land. +Not much sold, he said. "There was one sale of a big piece last +year; the owner enthorited Big Tom Wilson to sell it, but I d'know +what he got for it," + +All the way along, the habitations were small log cabins, with one +room, chinked with mud, and these were far between; and only +occasionally thereby a similar log structure, unchinked, laid up like +a cob house, that served for a stable. Not much cultivation, except +now and then a little patch of poor corn on a steep hillside, +occasionally a few apple-trees, and a peach-tree without fruit. Here +and there was a house that had been half finished and then abandoned, +or a shanty in which a couple of young married people were just +beginning life. Generally the cabins (confirming the accuracy of the +census of 1880 swarmed with children, and nearly all the women were +thin and sickly. + +In the day's ride we did not see a wheeled vehicle, and only now and +then a horse. We met on the road small sleds, drawn by a steer, +sometimes by a cow, on which a bag of grist was being hauled to the +mill, and boys mounted on steers gave us good-evening with as much +pride as if they were bestriding fiery horses. + +In a house of the better class, which was a post-house, and where the +rider and the woman of the house had a long consultation over a +letter to be registered, we found the rooms decorated with patent- +medicine pictures, which were often framed in strips of mica, an +evidence of culture that was worth noting. Mica was the rage. Every +one with whom we talked, except the rider, had more or less the +mineral fever. The impression was general that the mountain region +of North Carolina was entering upon a career of wonderful mineral +development, and the most extravagant expectations were entertained. +Mica was the shining object of most "prospecting," but gold was also +on the cards. + +The country about Burnsville is not only mildly picturesque, but very +pleasing. Burnsville, the county-seat of Yancey, at an elevation of +2840 feet, is more like a New England village than any hitherto seen. +Most of the houses stand about a square, which contains the shabby +court-house; around it are two small churches, a jail, an inviting +tavern) with a long veranda, and a couple of stores. On an +overlooking hill is the seminary. Mica mining is the exciting +industry, but it is agriculturally a good country. The tavern had +recently been enlarged to meet the new demands for entertainment) and +is a roomy structure, fresh with paint and only partially organized. +The travelers were much impressed with the brilliant chambers, the +floors of which were painted in alternate stripes of vivid green and +red. The proprietor, a very intelligent and enterprising man, who +had traveled often in the North, was full of projects for the +development of his region and foremost in its enterprises, and had +formed a considerable collection of minerals. Besides, more than any +one else we met, he appreciated the beauty of his country, and took +us to a neighboring hill, where we had a view of Table Mountain to +the east and the nearer giant Blacks. The elevation of Burnsville +gives it a delightful summer climate, the gentle undulations of the +country are agreeable, the views noble, the air is good, and it is +altogether a "livable" and attractive place. With facilities of +communication, it would be a favorite summer resort. Its nearness to +the great mountains (the whole Black range is in Yancey County), its +fine pure air, its opportunity for fishing and hunting, commend it to +those in search of an interesting and restful retreat in summer. + +But it should be said that before the country can attract and retain +travelers, its inhabitants must learn something about the preparation +of food. If, for instance, the landlord's wife at Burnsville had +traveled with her husband, her table would probably have been more on +a level with his knowledge of the world, and it would have contained +something that the wayfaring man, though a Northerner, could eat. We +have been on the point several times in this journey of making the +observation, but have been restrained by a reluctance to touch upon +politics, that it was no wonder that a people with such a cuisine +should have rebelled. The travelers were in a rebellious mood most +of the time. + +The evidences of enterprise in this region were pleasant to see, but +the observers could not but regret, after all, the intrusion of the +money-making spirit, which is certain to destroy much of the present +simplicity. It is as yet, to a degree, tempered by a philosophic +spirit. The other guest of the house was a sedate, long-bearded +traveler for some Philadelphia house, and in the evening he and the +landlord fell into a conversation upon what Socrates calls the +disadvantage of the pursuit of wealth to the exclusion of all noble +objects, and they let their fancy play about Vanderbilt, who was +agreed to be the richest man in the world, or that ever lived. + +"All I want," said the long-bearded man, "is enough to be +comfortable. I would n't have Vanderbilt's wealth if he'd give it to +me." + +"Nor I," said the landlord. "Give me just enough to be comfortable." +[The tourist couldn't but note that his ideas of enough to be +comfortable had changed a good deal since he had left his little farm +and gone into the mica business, and visited New York, and enlarged +and painted his tavern.] I should like to know what more Vanderbilt +gets out of his money than I get out of mine. I heard tell of a +young man who went to Vanderbilt to get employment. Vanderbilt +finally offered to give the young man, if he would work for him, just +what he got himself. The young man jumped at that--he'd be perfectly +satisfied with that pay. And Vanderbilt said that all he got was +what he could eat and wear, and offered to give the young man his +board and clothes." + +"I declare" said the long-bearded man. "That's just it. Did you +ever see Vanderbilt's house? Neither did I, but I heard he had a +vault built in it five feet thick, solid. He put in it two hundred +millions of dollars, in gold. After a year, he opened it and put in +twelve millions more, and called that a poor year. They say his +house has gold shutters to the windows, so I've heard." + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the landlord. "I heard he had one door in +his house cost forty thousand dollars. I don't know what it is made +of, unless it's made of gold." + +Sunday was a hot and quiet day. The stores were closed and the two +churches also, this not being the Sunday for the itinerant preacher. +The jail also showed no sign of life, and when we asked about it, we +learned that it was empty, and had been for some time. No liquor is +sold in the place, nor within at least three miles of it. It is not +much use to try to run a jail without liquor. + +In the course of the morning a couple of stout fellows arrived, +leading between them a young man whom they had arrested,--it didn't +appear on any warrant, but they wanted to get him committed and +locked up. The offense charged was carrying a pistol; the boy had +not used it against anybody, but he had flourished it about and +threatened, and the neighbors wouldn't stand that; they were bound to +enforce the law against carrying concealed weapons. + +The captors were perfectly good-natured and on friendly enough terms +with the young man, who offered no resistance, and seemed not +unwilling to go to jail. But a practical difficulty arose. The jail +was locked up, the sheriff had gone away into the country with the +key, and no one could get in. It did not appear that there was any +provision for boarding the man in jail; no one in fact kept it. The +sheriff was sent for, but was not to be found, and the prisoner and +his captors loafed about the square all day, sitting on the fence, +rolling on the grass, all of them sustained by a simple trust that +the jail would be open some time. + +Late in the afternoon we left them there, trying to get into the +jail. But we took a personal leaf out of this experience. Our +Virginia friends, solicitous for our safety in this wild country, had +urged us not to venture into it without arms--take at least, they +insisted, a revolver each. And now we had to congratulate ourselves +that we had not done so. If we had, we should doubtless on that +Sunday have been waiting, with the other law-breaker, for admission +into the Yancey County jail. + + + + +III + +>From Burnsville the next point in our route was Asheville, the most +considerable city in western North Carolina, a resort of fashion, and +the capital of Buncombe County. It is distant some forty to forty- +five miles, too long a journey for one day over such roads. The +easier and common route is by the Ford of Big Ivy, eighteen miles, +the first stopping-place; and that was a long ride for the late +afternoon when we were in condition to move. + +The landlord suggested that we take another route, stay that night on +Caney River with Big Tom Wilson, only eight miles from Burnsville, +cross Mount Mitchell, and go down the valley of the Swannanoa to +Asheville. He represented this route as shorter and infinitely more +picturesque. There was nothing worth seeing on the Big Ivy way. +With scarcely a moment's reflection and while the horses were +saddling, we decided to ride to Big Tom Wilson's. I could not at the +time understand, and I cannot now, why the Professor consented. I +should hardly dare yet confess to my fixed purpose to ascend Mount +Mitchell. It was equally fixed in the Professor's mind not to do it. +We had not discussed it much. But it is safe to say that if he had +one well-defined purpose on this trip, it was not to climb Mitchell. +"Not," as he put it,-- + + "Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul + Of the wide world dreaming on things to come," + +had suggested the possibility that he could do it. + +But at the moment the easiest thing to do seemed to be to ride down +to Wilson's. When there we could turn across country to the Big Ivy, +although, said the landlord, you can ride over Mitchell just as easy +as anywhere--a lady rode plump over the peak of it last week, and +never got off her horse. You are not obliged to go; at Big Tom's, +you can go any way you please. + +Besides, Big Tom himself weighed in the scale more than Mount +Mitchell, and not to see him was to miss one of the most +characteristic productions of the country, the typical backwoodsman, +hunter, guide. So we rode down Bolling Creek, through a pretty, +broken country, crossed the Caney River, and followed it up a few +miles to Wilson's plantation. There are little intervales along the +river, where hay is cut and corn grown, but the region is not much +cleared, and the stock browse about in the forest. Wilson is the +agent of the New York owner of a tract of some thirteen thousand +acres of forest, including the greater portion of Mount Mitchell, a +wilderness well stocked with bears and deer, and full of streams +abounding in trout. It is also the playground of the rattlesnake. +With all these attractions Big Tom's life is made lively in watching +game poachers, and endeavoring to keep out the foraging cattle of the +few neighbors. It is not that the cattle do much injury in the +forest, but the looking after them is made a pretense for roaming +around, and the roamers are liable to have to defend themselves +against the deer, or their curiosity is excited about the bears, and +lately they have taken to exploding powder in the streams to kill the +fish. + +Big Tom's plantation has an openwork stable, an ill-put-together +frame house, with two rooms and a kitchen, and a veranda in front, a +loft, and a spring-house in the rear. Chickens and other animals +have free run of the premises. Some fish-rods hung in the porch, and +hunter's gear depended on hooks in the passage-way to the kitchen. +In one room were three beds, in the other two, only one in the +kitchen. On the porch was a loom, with a piece of cloth in process. +The establishment had the air of taking care of itself. Neither Big +Tom nor his wife was at home. Sunday seemed to be a visiting day, +and the travelers had met many parties on horseback. Mrs. Wilson +was away for a visit of a day or two. One of the sons, who was +lounging on the veranda, was at last induced to put up the horses; a +very old woman, who mumbled and glared at the visitors, was found in +the kitchen, but no intelligible response could be got out of her. +Presently a bright little girl, the housekeeper in charge, appeared. +She said that her paw had gone up to her brother's (her brother was +just married and lived up the river in the house where Mr. Murchison +stayed when he was here) to see if he could ketch a bear that had +been rootin' round in the corn-field the night before. She expected +him back by sundown--by dark anyway. 'Les he'd gone after the bear, +and then you could n't tell when he would come. + +It appeared that Big Tom was a thriving man in the matter of family. +More boys appeared. Only one was married, but four had "got their +time." As night approached, and no Wilson, there was a good deal of +lively and loud conversation about the stock and the chores, in all +of which the girl took a leading and intelligent part, showing a +willingness to do her share, but not to have all the work put upon +her. It was time to go down the road and hunt up the cows; the mule +had disappeared and must be found before dark; a couple of steers +hadn't turned up since the day before yesterday, and in the midst of +the gentle contention as to whose business all this was, there was an +alarm of cattle in the corn-patch, and the girl started off on a run +in that direction. It was due to the executive ability of this small +girl, after the cows had been milked and the mule chased and the boys +properly stirred up, that we had supper. It was of the oilcloth, +iron fork, tin spoon, bacon, hot bread and honey variety, +distinguished, however, from all meals we had endured or enjoyed +before by the introduction of fried eggs (as the breakfast next +morning was by the presence of chicken), and it was served by the +active maid with right hearty good-will and genuine hospitable +intent. + +While it was in progress, after nine o'clock, Big Tom arrived, and, +with a simple greeting, sat down and attacked the supper and began to +tell about the bear. There was not much to tell except that he +hadn't seen the bear, and that, judged by his tracks and his sloshing +around, he must be a big one. But a trap had been set for him, and +he judged it wouldn't be long before we had some bear meat. Big Tom +Wilson, as he is known all over this part of the State, would not +attract attention from his size. He is six feet and two inches tall, +very spare and muscular, with sandy hair, long gray beard, and honest +blue eyes. He has a reputation for great strength and endurance; a +man of native simplicity and mild manners. He had been rather +expecting us from what Mr. Murchison wrote; he wrote (his son had +read out the letter) that Big Tom was to take good care of us, and +anybody that Mr. Murchison sent could have the best he'd got. + +Big Tom joined us in our room after supper. This apartment, with two +mighty feather-beds, was hung about with all manner of stuffy family +clothes, and had in one end a vast cavern for a fire. The floor was +uneven, and the hearthstones billowy. When the fire was lighted, the +effect of the bright light in the cavern and the heavy shadows in the +room was Rembrandtish. Big Tom sat with us before the fire and told +bear stories. Talk? Why, it was not the least effort. The stream +flowed on without a ripple. "Why, the old man," one of the sons +confided to us next morning, "can begin and talk right over Mount +Mitchell and all the way back, and never make a break." Though Big +Tom had waged a lifelong warfare with the bears, and taken the hide +off at least a hundred of them, I could not see that he had any +vindictive feeling towards the varmint, but simply an insatiable love +of killing him, and he regarded him in that half-humorous light in +which the bear always appears to those who study him. As to deer--he +couldn't tell how many of them he had slain. But Big Tom was a +gentleman: he never killed deer for mere sport. With rattlesnakes, +now, it was different. There was the skin of one hanging upon a tree +by the route we would take in the morning, a buster, he skinned him +yesterday. There was an entire absence, of braggadocio in Big Tom's +talk, but somehow, as he went on, his backwoods figure loomed larger +and larger in our imagination, and he seemed strangely familiar. At +length it came over us where we had met him before. It was in +Cooper's novels. He was the Leather-Stocking exactly. And yet he +was an original; for he assured us that he had never read the +Leather-Stocking Tales. What a figure, I was thinking, he must have +made in the late war! Such a shot, such a splendid physique, such +iron endurance! I almost dreaded to hear his tales of the havoc he +had wrought on the Union army. Yes, he was in the war, he was +sixteen months in the Confederate army, this Homeric man. In what +rank?" Oh, I was a fifer!" + +But hunting and war did not by any means occupy the whole of Big +Tom's life. He was also engaged in "lawin'." He had a long-time +feud with a neighbor about a piece of land and alleged trespass, and +they'd been "lawin'" for years, with no definite result; but as a +topic of conversation it was as fully illustrative of frontier life +as the bear-fighting. + +Long after we had all gone to bed, we heard Big Tom's continuous +voice, through the thin partition that separated us from the kitchen, +going on to his little boy about the bear; every circumstance of how +he tracked him, and what corner of the field he entered, and where he +went out, and his probable size and age, and the prospect of his +coming again; these were the details of real everyday life, and +worthy to be dwelt on by the hour. The boy was never tired of +pursuing them. And Big Tom was just a big boy, also, in his delight +in it all. + +Perhaps it was the fascination of Big Tom, perhaps the representation +that we were already way off the Big Ivy route, and that it would, in +fact, save time to go over the mountain and we could ride all the +way, that made the Professor acquiesce, with no protest worth +noticing, in the preparations that went on, as by a natural +assumption, for going over Mitchell. At any rate, there was an early +breakfast, luncheon was put up, and by half-past seven we were riding +up the Caney,--a half-cloudy day,--Big Tom swinging along on foot +ahead, talking nineteen to the dozen. There was a delightful +freshness in the air, the dew-laden bushes, and the smell of the +forest. In half an hour we called at the hunting shanty of Mr. +Murchison, wrote our names on the wall, according to custom, and +regretted that we could not stay for a day in that retreat and try +the speckled trout. Making our way through the low growth and bushes +of the valley, we came into a fine open forest, watered by a noisy +brook, and after an hour's easy going reached the serious ascent. + +>From Wilson's to the peak of Mitchell it is seven and a half miles; +we made it in five and a half hours. A bridle path was cut years +ago, but it has been entirely neglected. It is badly washed, it is +stony, muddy, and great trees have fallen across it which wholly +block the way for horses. At these places long detours were +necessary, on steep hillsides and through gullies, over treacherous +sink-holes in the rocks, through quaggy places, heaps of brush, and +rotten logs. Those who have ever attempted to get horses over such +ground will not wonder at the slow progress we made. Before we were +halfway up the ascent, we realized the folly of attempting it on +horseback; but then to go on seemed as easy as to go back. The way +was also exceedingly steep in places, and what with roots, and logs, +and slippery rocks and stones, it was a desperate climb for the +horses. + +What a magnificent forest! Oaks, chestnuts, Poplars, hemlocks, the +cucumber (a species of magnolia, with a pinkish, cucumber-like cone), +and all sorts of northern and southern growths meeting here in +splendid array. And this gigantic forest, with little diminution in +size of trees, continued two thirds of the way up. We marked, as we +went on, the maple, the black walnut, the buckeye, the hickory, the +locust, and the guide pointed out in one section the largest cherry- +trees we had ever seen; splendid trunks, each worth a large sum if it +could be got to market. After the great trees were left behind, we +entered a garden of white birches, and then a plateau of swamp, thick +with raspberry bushes, and finally the ridges, densely crowded with +the funereal black balsam. + +Halfway up, Big Tom showed us his favorite, the biggest tree he knew. +It was a poplar, or tulip. It stands more like a column than a tree, +rising high into the air, with scarcely a perceptible taper, perhaps +sixty, more likely a hundred, feet before it puts out a limb. + +Its girth six feet from the ground is thirty-two feet! I think it +might be called Big Tom. It stood here, of course, a giant, when +Columbus sailed from Spain, and perhaps some sentimental traveler +will attach the name of Columbus to it. + +In the woods there was not much sign of animal life, scarcely the +note of a bird, but we noticed as we rode along in the otherwise +primeval silence a loud and continuous humming overhead, almost like +the sound of the wind in pine tops. It was the humming of bees! The +upper branches were alive with these industrious toilers, and Big Tom +was always on the alert to discover and mark a bee-gum, which he +could visit afterwards. Honey hunting is one of his occupations. +Collecting spruce gum is another, and he was continually hacking off +with his hatchet knobs of the translucent secretion. How rich and +fragrant are these forests! The rhododendron was still in occasional +bloom' and flowers of brilliant hue gleamed here and there. + +The struggle was more severe as we neared the summit, and the footing +worse for the horses. Occasionally it was safest to dismount and +lead them up slippery ascents; but this was also dangerous, for it +was difficult to keep them from treading on our heels, in their +frantic flounderings, in the steep, wet, narrow, brier-grown path. +At one uncommonly pokerish place, where the wet rock sloped into a +bog, the rider of Jack thought it prudent to dismount, but Big Tom +insisted that Jack would "make it" all right, only give him his head. +The rider gave him his head, and the next minute Jack's four heels +were in the air, and he came down on his side in a flash. The rider +fortunately extricated his leg without losing it, Jack scrambled out +with a broken shoe, and the two limped along. It was a wonder that +the horses' legs were not broken a dozen times. + +As we approached the top, Big Tom pointed out the direction, a half +mile away, of a small pond, a little mountain tarn, overlooked by a +ledge of rock, where Professor Mitchell lost his life. Big Tom was +the guide that found his body. That day, as we sat on the summit, he +gave in great detail the story, the general outline of which is well +known. + +The first effort to measure the height of the Black Mountains was +made in 1835, by Professor Elisha Mitchell, professor of mathematics +and chemistry in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. +Mr. Mitchell was a native of Connecticut, born in Washington, +Litchfield County, in 1793; graduated at Yale, ordained a +Presbyterian minister, and was for a time state surveyor; and became +a professor at Chapel Hill in 1818. He first ascertained and +published the fact that the Black Mountains are the highest land east +of the Rocky Mountains. In 1844 he visited the locality again. +Measurements were subsequently made by Professor Guyot and by Senator +Clingman. One of the peaks was named for the senator (the one next +in height to Mitchell is described as Clingman on the state map), and +a dispute arose as to whether Mitchell had really visited and +measured the highest peak. Senator Clingman still maintains that he +did not, and that the peak now known as Mitchell is the one that +Clingman first described. The estimates of altitudes made by the +three explorers named differed considerably. The height now fixed +for Mount Mitchell is 6711; that of Mount Washington is 6285. There +are twelve peaks in this range higher than Mount Washington, and if +we add those in the Great Smoky Mountains which overtop it, there are +some twenty in this State higher than the granite giant of New +Hampshire. + +In order to verify his statement, Professor Mitchell (then in his +sixty-fourth year) made a third ascent in June, 1857. He was alone, +and went up from the Swannanoa side. He did not return. No anxiety +was felt for two or three days, as he was a good mountaineer, and it +was supposed he had crossed the mountain and made his way out by the +Caney River. But when several days passed without tidings of him, a +search party was formed. Big Tom Wilson was with it. They explored +the mountain in all directions unsuccessfully. At length Big Tom +separated himself from his companions and took a course in accordance +with his notion of that which would be pursued by a man lost in the +clouds or the darkness. He soon struck the trail of the wanderer, +and, following it, discovered Mitchell's body lying in a pool at the +foot of a rocky precipice some thirty feet high. It was evident that +Mitchell, making his way along the ridge in darkness or fog, had +fallen off. It was the ninth (or the eleventh) day of his +disappearance, but in the pure mountain air the body had suffered no +change. Big Tom brought his companions to the place, and on +consultation it was decided to leave the body undisturbed till +Mitchell's friends could be present. + +There was some talk of burying him on the mountain, but the friends +decided otherwise, and the remains, with much difficulty, were got +down to Asheville and there interred. + +Some years afterwards, I believe at the instance of a society of +scientists, it was resolved to transport the body to the summit of +Mount Mitchell; for the tragic death of the explorer had forever +settled in the popular mind the name of the mountain. The task was +not easy. A road had to be cut, over which a sledge could be hauled, +and the hardy mountaineers who undertook the removal were three days +in reaching the summit with their burden. The remains were +accompanied by a considerable concourse, and the last rites on the +top were participated in by a hundred or more scientists and +prominent men from different parts of the State. Such a strange +cortege had never before broken the silence of this lonely +wilderness, nor was ever burial more impressive than this wild +interment above the clouds. + +We had been preceded in our climb all the way by a huge bear. That +he was huge, a lunker, a monstrous old varmint, Big Tom knew by the +size of his tracks; that he was making the ascent that morning ahead +of us, Big Tom knew by the freshness of the trail. We might come +upon him at any moment; he might be in the garden; was quite likely +to be found in the raspberry patch. That we did not encounter him I +am convinced was not the fault of Big Tom, but of the bear. + +After a struggle of five hours we emerged from the balsams and briers +into a lovely open meadow, of lush clover, timothy, and blue grass. +We unsaddled the horses and turned them loose to feed in it. The +meadow sloped up to a belt of balsams and firs, a steep rocky knob, +and climbing that on foot we stood upon the summit of Mitchell at one +o'clock. We were none too soon, for already the clouds were +preparing for what appears to be a daily storm at this season. + +The summit is a nearly level spot of some thirty or forty feet in +extent either way, with a floor of rock and loose stones. The +stunted balsams have been cut away so as to give a view. The sweep +of prospect is vast, and we could see the whole horizon except in the +direction of Roan, whose long bulk was enveloped in cloud. Portions +of six States were in sight, we were told, but that is merely a +geographical expression. What we saw, wherever we looked, was an +inextricable tumble of mountains, without order or leading line of +direction,--domes, peaks, ridges, endless and countless, everywhere, +some in shadow, some tipped with shafts of sunlight, all wooded and +green or black, and all in more softened contours than our Northern +hills, but still wild, lonesome, terrible. Away in the southwest, +lifting themselves up in a gleam of the western sky, the Great Smoky +Mountains loomed like a frowning continental fortress, sullen and +remote. With Clingman and Gibbs and Holdback peaks near at hand and +apparently of equal height, Mitchell seemed only a part and not +separate from the mighty congregation of giants. + +In the center of the stony plot on the summit lie the remains of +Mitchell. To dig a grave in the rock was impracticable, but the +loose stones were scooped away to the depth of a foot or so, the body +was deposited, and the stones were replaced over it. It was the +original intention to erect a monument, but the enterprise of the +projectors of this royal entombment failed at that point. The grave +is surrounded by a low wall of loose stones, to which each visitor +adds one, and in the course of ages the cairn may grow to a good +size. The explorer lies there without name or headstone to mark his +awful resting-place. The mountain is his monument. He is alone with +its majesty. He is there in the clouds, in the tempests, where the +lightnings play, and thunders leap, amid the elemental tumult, in the +occasional great calm and silence and the pale sunlight. It is the +most majestic, the most lonesome grave on earth. + +As we sat there, awed a little by this presence, the clouds were +gathering from various quarters and drifting towards us. We could +watch the process of thunder-storms and the manufacture of tempests. +I have often noticed on other high mountains how the clouds, forming +like genii released from the earth, mount into the upper air, and in +masses of torn fragments of mist hurry across the sky as to a +rendezvous of witches. This was a different display. These clouds +came slowly sailing from the distant horizon, like ships on an aerial +voyage. Some were below us, some on our level; they were all in +well-defined, distinct masses, molten silver on deck, below trailing +rain, and attended on earth by gigantic shadows that moved with them. +This strange fleet of battle-ships, drifted by the shifting currents, +was maneuvering for an engagement. One after another, as they came +into range about our peak of observation, they opened fire. Sharp +flashes of lightning darted from one to the other; a jet of flame +from one leaped across the interval and was buried in the bosom of +its adversary; and at every discharge the boom of great guns echoed +through the mountains. It was something more than a royal salute to +the tomb of the mortal at our feet, for the masses of cloud were rent +in the fray, at every discharge the rain was precipitated in +increasing torrents, and soon the vast hulks were trailing torn +fragments and wreaths of mist, like the shot-away shrouds and sails +of ships in battle. Gradually, from this long-range practice with +single guns and exchange of broadsides, they drifted into closer +conflict, rushed together, and we lost sight of the individual +combatants in the general tumult of this aerial war. + +We had barely twenty minutes for our observations, when it was time +to go; and had scarcely left the peak when the clouds enveloped it. +We hastened down under the threatening sky to the saddles and the +luncheon. Just off from the summit, amid the rocks, is a complete +arbor, or tunnel, of rhododendrons. This cavernous place a Western +writer has made the scene of a desperate encounter between Big Tom +and a catamount, or American panther, which had been caught in a trap +and dragged it there, pursued by Wilson. It is an exceedingly +graphic narrative, and is enlivened by the statement that Big Tom had +the night before drunk up all the whisky of the party which had spent +the night on the summit. Now Big Tom assured us that the whisky part +of the story was an invention; he was not (which is true) in the +habit of using it; if he ever did take any, it might be a drop on +Mitchell; in fact, when he inquired if we had a flask, he remarked +that a taste of it would do him good then and there. We regretted +the lack of it in our baggage. But what inclined Big Tom to +discredit the Western writer's story altogether was the fact that he +never in his life had had a difficulty with a catamount, and never +had seen one in these mountains. + +Our lunch was eaten in haste. Big Tom refused the chicken he had +provided for us, and strengthened himself with slices of raw salt +pork, which he cut from a hunk with his clasp-knife. We caught and +saddled our horses, who were reluctant to leave the rich feed, +enveloped ourselves in waterproofs, and got into the stony path for +the descent just as the torrent came down. It did rain. It +lightened, the thunder crashed, the wind howled and twisted the +treetops. It was as if we were pursued by the avenging spirits of +the mountains for our intrusion. Such a tempest on this height had +its terrors even for our hardy guide. He preferred to be lower down +while it was going on. The crash and reverberation of the thunder +did not trouble us so much as the swish of the wet branches in our +faces and the horrible road, with its mud, tripping roots, loose +stones, and slippery rocks. Progress was slow. The horses were in +momentary danger of breaking their legs. In the first hour there was +not much descent. In the clouds we were passing over Clingman, +Gibbs, and Holdback. The rain had ceased, but the mist still shut +off all view, if any had been attainable, and bushes and paths were +deluged. The descent was more uncomfortable than the ascent, and we +were compelled a good deal of the way to lead the jaded horses down +the slippery rocks. + +>From the peak to the Widow Patten's, where we proposed to pass the +night, is twelve miles, a distance we rode or scrambled down, every +step of the road bad, in five and a half hours. Halfway down we came +out upon a cleared place, a farm, with fruit-trees and a house in +ruins. Here had been a summer hotel much resorted to before the war, +but now abandoned. Above it we turned aside for the view from +Elizabeth rock, named from the daughter of the proprietor of the +hotel, who often sat here, said Big Tom, before she went out of this +world. It is a bold rocky ledge, and the view from it, looking +south, is unquestionably the finest, the most pleasing and picture- +like, we found in these mountains. In the foreground is the deep +gorge of a branch of the Swannanoa, and opposite is the great wall of +the Blue Ridge (the Blue Ridge is the most capricious and +inexplicable system) making off to the Blacks. The depth of the +gorge, the sweep of the sky line, and the reposeful aspect of the +scene to the sunny south made this view both grand and charming. +Nature does not always put the needed dash of poetry into her +extensive prospects. + +Leaving this clearing and the now neglected spring, where fashion +used to slake its thirst, we zigzagged down the mountain-side through +a forest of trees growing at every step larger and nobler, and at +length struck a small stream, the North Fork of the Swannanoa, which +led us to the first settlement. Just at night,--it was nearly seven +o'clock,--we entered one of the most stately forests I have ever +seen, and rode for some distance in an alley of rhododendrons that +arched overhead and made a bower. It was like an aisle in a temple; +high overhead was the somber, leafy roof, supported by gigantic +columns. Few widows have such an avenue of approach to their domain +as the Widow Patten has. + +Cheering as this outcome was from the day's struggle and storm, the +Professor seemed sunk in a profound sadness. The auguries which the +Friend drew from these signs of civilization of a charming inn and a +royal supper did not lighten the melancholy of his mind. "Alas," he +said, + + "Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, + And make me travel forth without my cloak, + To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way, + Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke? + 'T is not enough that through the cloud thou break, + To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, + For no man well of such a salve can speak + That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace: + Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief: + Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss." + +"Loss of what?" cried the Friend, as he whipped up his halting +steed. + +"Loss of self-respect. I feel humiliated that I consented to climb +this mountain." + +"Nonsense! You'll live to thank me for it, as the best thing you +ever did. It's over and done now, and you've got it to tell your +friends." + +"That's just the trouble. They'll ask me if I went up Mitchell, and +I shall have to say I did. My character for consistency is gone. +Not that I care much what they think, but my own self-respect is +gone. I never believed I would do it. A man ca'nt afford to lower +himself in his own esteem, at my time of life." + +The Widow Patten's was only an advanced settlement in this narrow +valley on the mountain-side, but a little group of buildings, a +fence, and a gate gave it the air of a place, and it had once been +better cared for than it is now. Few travelers pass that way, and +the art of entertaining, if it ever existed, is fallen into +desuetude. We unsaddled at the veranda, and sat down to review our +adventure, make the acquaintance of the family, and hear the last +story from Big Tom. The mountaineer, though wet, was as fresh as a +daisy, and fatigue in no wise checked the easy, cheerful flow of his +talk. He was evidently a favorite with his neighbors, and not +unpleasantly conscious of the extent of his reputation. But he +encountered here another social grade. The Widow Patten was highly +connected. We were not long in discovering that she was an +Alexander. She had been a schoolmate of Senator Vance,--" Zeb Vance +"he still was to her,--and the senator and his wife had stayed at her +house. I wish I could say that the supper, for which we waited till +nine o'clock, was as "highly connected " as the landlady. It was, +however, a supper that left its memory. We were lodged in a detached +house, which we had to ourselves, where a roaring wood fire made +amends for other things lacking. It was necessary to close the doors +to keep out the wandering cows and pigs, and I am bound to say that, +notwithstanding the voices of the night, we slept there the sleep of +peace. + +In the morning a genuine surprise awaited us; it seemed impossible, +but the breakfast was many degrees worse than the supper; and when we +paid our bill, large for the region, we were consoled by the thought +that we paid for the high connection as well as for the +accommodations. This is a regular place of entertainment, and one is +at liberty to praise it without violation of delicacy. + +The broken shoe of Jack required attention, and we were all the +morning hunting a blacksmith, as we rode down the valley. Three +blacksmith's shanties were found, and after long waiting to send for +the operator it turned out in each case that he had no shoes, no +nails, no iron to make either of. We made a detour of three miles to +what was represented as a regular shop. The owner had secured the +service of a colored blacksmith for a special job, and was, not +inclined to accommodate us; he had no shoes, no nails. But the +colored blacksmith, who appreciated the plight we were in, offered to +make a shoe, and to crib four nails from those he had laid aside for +a couple of mules; and after a good deal of delay, we were enabled to +go on. The incident shows, as well as anything, the barrenness and +shiftlessness of the region. A horseman with whom we rode in the +morning gave us a very low estimate of the trustworthiness of the +inhabitants. The valley is wild and very pretty all the way down to +Colonel Long's,--twelve miles,--but the wretched-looking people along +the way live in a wretched manner. + +Just before reaching Colonel Long's we forded the stream (here of +good size), the bridge having tumbled down, and encountered a party +of picnickers under the trees--signs of civilization; a railway +station is not far off. Colonel Long's is a typical Southern +establishment: a white house, or rather three houses, all of one +story, built on to each other as beehives are set in a row, all +porches and galleries. No one at home but the cook, a rotund, broad- +faced woman, with a merry eye, whose very appearance suggested good +cooking and hospitality; the Missis and the children had gone up to +the river fishing; the Colonel was somewhere about the place; always +was away when he was wanted. Guess he'd take us in, mighty fine man +the Colonel; and she dispatched a child from a cabin in the rear to +hunt him up. The Colonel was a great friend of her folks down to +Greenville; they visited here. Law, no, she didn't live here. Was +just up here spending the summer, for her health. God-forsaken lot +of people up here, poor trash. She wouldn't stay here a day, but the +Colonel was a friend of her folks, the firstest folks in Greenville. +Nobody round here she could 'sociate with. She was a Presbyterian, +the folks round here mostly Baptists and Methodists. More style +about the Presbyterians. Married? No, she hoped not. She did n't +want to support no husband. Got 'nuff to do to take care of herself. +That her little girl? No; she'd only got one child, down to +Greenville, just the prettiest boy ever was, as white as anybody. +How did she what? reconcile this state of things with not being +married and being a Presbyterian? Sho! she liked to carry some +religion along; it was mighty handy occasionally, mebbe not all the +time. Yes, indeed, she enjoyed her religion. + +The Colonel appeared and gave us a most cordial welcome. The fat and +merry cook blustered around and prepared a good dinner, memorable for +its "light" bread, the first we had seen since Cranberry Forge. The +Colonel is in some sense a public man, having been a mail agent, and +a Republican. He showed us photographs and engravings of Northern +politicians, and had the air of a man who had been in Washington. +This was a fine country for any kind of fruit,--apples, grapes, +pears; it needed a little Northern enterprise to set things going. +The travelers were indebted to the Colonel for a delightful noonday +rest, and with regret declined his pressing invitation to pass the +night with him. + +The ride down the Swannanoa to Asheville was pleasant, through a +cultivated region, over a good road. The Swannanoa is, however, a +turbid stream. In order to obtain the most impressive view of +Asheville we approached it by the way of Beaucatcher Hill, a sharp +elevation a mile west of the town. I suppose the name is a +corruption of some descriptive French word, but it has long been a +favorite resort of the frequenters of Asheville, and it may be +traditional that it is a good place to catch beaux. The summit is +occupied by a handsome private residence, and from this ridge the +view, which has the merit of "bursting" upon the traveler as he comes +over the hill, is captivating in its extent and variety. The pretty +town of Asheville is seen to cover a number of elevations gently +rising out of the valley, and the valley, a rich agricultural region, +well watered and fruitful, is completely inclosed by picturesque +hills, some of them rising to the dignity of mountains. The most +conspicuous of these is Mount Pisgah, eighteen miles distant to the +southwest, a pyramid of the Balsam range, 5757 feet high. Mount +Pisgah, from its shape, is the most attractive mountain in this +region. + +The sunset light was falling upon the splendid panorama and softening +it. The windows of the town gleamed as if on fire. From the steep +slope below came the mingled sounds of children shouting, cattle +driven home, and all that hum of life that marks a thickly peopled +region preparing for the night. It was the leisure hour of an August +afternoon, and Asheville was in all its watering-place gayety, as we +reined up at the Swannanoa hotel. A band was playing on the balcony. +We had reached ice-water, barbers, waiters, civilization. + + + + +IV + +Ashville, delightful for situation, on small hills that rise above +the French Broad below its confluence with the Swannanoa, is a sort +of fourteenth cousin to Saratoga. It has no springs, but lying 2250 +feet above the sea and in a lovely valley, mountain girt, it has pure +atmosphere and an equable climate; and being both a summer and winter +resort, it has acquired a watering-place air. There are Southerners +who declare that it is too hot in summer, and that the complete +circuit of mountains shuts out any lively movement of air. But the +scenery is so charming and noble, the drives are so varied, the roads +so unusually passable for a Southern country, and the facilities for +excursions so good, that Asheville is a favorite resort. + +Architecturally the place is not remarkable, but its surface is so +irregular, there are so many acclivities and deep valleys that +improvements can never obliterate, that it is perforce picturesque. +It is interesting also, if not pleasing, in its contrasts--the +enterprise of taste and money-making struggling with the laissez +faire of the South. The negro, I suppose, must be regarded as a +conservative element; he has not much inclination to change his +clothes or his cabin, and his swarming presence gives a ragged aspect +to the new civilization. And to say the truth, the new element of +Southern smartness lacks the trim thrift the North is familiar with; +though the visitor who needs relaxation is not disposed to quarrel +with the easy-going terms on which life is taken. + +Asheville, it is needless to say, appeared very gay and stimulating +to the riders from the wilderness. The Professor, who does not even +pretend to patronize Nature, had his revenge as we strolled about the +streets (there is but one of much consideration), immensely +entertained by the picturesque contrasts. There was more life and +amusement here in five minutes, he declared, than in five days of +what people called scenery--the present rage for scenery, anyway, +being only a fashion and a modern invention. The Friend suspected +from this penchant for the city that the Professor must have been +brought up in the country. + +There was a kind of predetermined and willful gayety about Asheville +however, that is apt to be present in a watering-place, and gave to +it the melancholy tone that is always present in gay places. We +fancied that the lively movement in the streets had an air of +unreality. A band of musicians on the balcony of the Swannanoa were +scraping and tooting and twanging with a hired air, and on the +opposite balcony of the Eagle a rival band echoed and redoubled the +perfunctory joyousness. The gayety was contagious: the horses felt +it; those that carried light burdens of beauty minced and pranced, +the pony in the dog-cart was inclined to dash, the few passing +equipages had an air of pleasure; and the people of color, the comely +waitress and the slouching corner-loafer, responded to the animation +of the festive strains. In the late afternoon the streets were full +of people, wagons, carriages, horsemen, all with a holiday air, +dashed with African color and humor--the irresponsibility of the most +insouciant and humorous race in the world, perhaps more comical than +humorous; a mixture of recent civilization and rudeness, peculiar and +amusing; a happy coming together, it seemed, of Southern abandon and +Northern wealth, though the North was little represented at this +season. + +As evening came on, the streets, though wanting gas, were still more +animated; the shops were open, some very good ones, and the white and +black throng increasing, especially the black, for the negro is +preeminently a night bird. In the hotels dancing was promised--the +german was announced; on the galleries and in the corridors were +groups of young people, a little loud in manner and voice,--the young +gentleman, with his over-elaborate manner to ladies in bowing and +hat-lifting, and the blooming girls from the lesser Southern cities, +with the slight provincial note, and yet with the frank and engaging +cordiality which is as charming as it is characteristic. I do not +know what led the Professor to query if the Southern young women were +not superior to the Southern young men, but he is always asking +questions nobody can answer. At the Swannanoa were half a dozen +bridal couples, readily recognizable by the perfect air they had of +having been married a long time. How interesting such young voyagers +are, and how interesting they are to each other! Columbus never +discovered such a large world as they have to find out and possess +each in the other. + +Among the attractions of the evening it was difficult to choose. +There was a lawn-party advertised at Battery Point (where a fine +hotel has since been built) and we walked up to that round knob after +dark. It is a hill with a grove, which commands a charming view, and +was fortified during the war. We found it illuminated with Chinese +lanterns; and little tables set about under the trees, laden with +cake and ice-cream, offered a chance to the stranger to contribute +money for the benefit of the Presbyterian Church. I am afraid it was +not a profitable entertainment, for the men seemed to have business +elsewhere, but the ladies about the tables made charming groups in +the lighted grove. Man is a stupid animal at best, or he would not +make it so difficult for the womenkind to scrape together a little +money for charitable purposes. But probably the women like this +method of raising money better than the direct one. + +The evening gayety of the town was well distributed. When we +descended to the Court-House Square, a great crowd had collected, +black, white, and yellow, about a high platform, upon which four +glaring torches lighted up the novel scene, and those who could read +might decipher this legend on a standard at the back of the stage: + + HAPPY JOHN. + ONE OF THE SLAVES OF WADE HAMPTON. + COME AND SEE HIM! + +Happy John, who occupied the platform with Mary, a "bright" yellow +girl, took the comical view of his race, which was greatly enjoyed by +his audience. His face was blackened to the proper color of the +stage-darky, and he wore a flaming suit of calico, the trousers and +coat striped longitudinally according to Punch's idea of "Uncle Sam," +the coat a swallow-tail bound and faced with scarlet, and a bell- +crowned white hat. This conceit of a colored Yankee seemed to tickle +all colors in the audience amazingly. Mary, the "bright" woman (this +is the universal designation of the light mulatto), was a pleasing +but bold yellow girl, who wore a natty cap trimmed with scarlet, and +had the assured or pert manner of all traveling sawdust performers. + +"Oh, yes," exclaimed a bright woman in the crowd, "Happy John was +sure enough one of Wade Hampton's slaves, and he's right good looking +when he's not blackened up." + +Happy John sustained the promise of his name by spontaneous gayety +and enjoyment of the fleeting moment; he had a glib tongue and a +ready, rude wit, and talked to his audience with a delicious mingling +of impudence, deference, and patronage, commenting upon them +generally, administering advice and correction in a strain of humor +that kept his hearers in a pleased excitement. He handled the banjo +and the guitar alternately, and talked all the time when he was not +singing. Mary (how much harder featured and brazen a woman is in +such a position than a man of the same caliber!) sang, in an +untutored treble, songs of sentiment, often risque, in solo and in +company with John, but with a cold, indifferent air, in contrast to +the rollicking enjoyment of her comrade. + +The favorite song, which the crowd compelled her to repeat, touched +lightly the uncertainties of love, expressed in the falsetto pathetic +refrain : + + "Mary's gone away wid de coon." + +All this, with the moon, the soft summer night, the mixed crowd of +darkies and whites, the stump eloquence of Happy John, the singing, +the laughter, the flaring torches, made a wild scene. The +entertainment was quite free, with a "collection" occasionally during +the performance. + +What most impressed us, however, was the turning to account by Happy +John of the "nigger" side of the black man as a means of low comedy, +and the enjoyment of it by all the people of color. They appeared to +appreciate as highly as anybody the comic element in themselves, and +Happy John had emphasized it by deepening his natural color and +exaggerating the "nigger" peculiarities. I presume none of them +analyzed the nature of his infectious gayety, nor thought of the +pathos that lay so close to it, in the fact of his recent slavery, +and the distinction of being one of Wade Hampton's niggers, and the +melancholy mirth of this light-hearted race's burlesque of itself. + +A performance followed which called forth the appreciation of the +crowd more than the wit of Happy John or the faded songs of the +yellow girl. John took two sweet-cakes and broke each in fine pieces +into a saucer, and after sugaring and eulogizing the dry messes, +called for two small darky volunteers from the audience to come up on +the platform and devour them. He offered a prize of fifteen cents to +the one who should first eat the contents of his dish, not using his +hands, and hold up the saucer empty in token of his victory. The +cake was tempting, and the fifteen cents irresistible, and a couple +of boys in ragged shirts and short trousers and a suspender apiece +came up shamefacedly to enter for the prize. Each one grasped his +saucer in both hands, and with face over the dish awaited the word +"go," which John gave, and started off the contest with a banjo +accompaniment. To pick up with the mouth the dry cake and choke it +down was not so easy as the boys apprehended, but they went into the +task with all their might, gobbling and swallowing as if they loved +cake, occasionally rolling an eye to the saucer of the contestant to +see the relative progress, John strumming, ironically encouraging, +and the crowd roaring. As the combat deepened and the contestants +strangled and stuffed and sputtered, the crowd went into spasms of +laughter. The smallest boy won by a few seconds, holding up his +empty saucer, with mouth stuffed, vigorously trying to swallow, like +a chicken with his throat clogged with dry meal, and utterly unable +to speak. The impartial John praised the victor in mock heroics, but +said that the trial was so even that he would divide the prize, ten +cents to one and five to the other--a stroke of justice that greatly +increased his popularity. And then he dismissed the assembly, saying +that he had promised the mayor to do so early, because he did not +wish to run an opposition to the political meeting going on in the +courthouse. + +The scene in the large court-room was less animated than that out- +doors; a half-dozen tallow dips, hung on the wall in sconces and +stuck on the judge's long desk, feebly illuminated the mixed crowd of +black and white who sat in, and on the backs of, the benches, and +cast only a fitful light upon the orator, who paced back and forth +and pounded the rail. It was to have been a joint discussion between +the two presidential electors running in that district, but, the +Republican being absent, his place was taken by a young man of the +town. The Democratic orator took advantage of the absence of his +opponent to describe the discussion of the night before, and to give +a portrait of his adversary. He was represented as a cross between a +baboon and a jackass, who would be a natural curiosity for Barnum. +"I intend," said the orator," to put him in a cage and exhibit him +about the deestrict." This political hit called forth great +applause. All his arguments were of this pointed character, and they +appeared to be unanswerable. The orator appeared to prove that there +wasn't a respectable man in the opposite party who wasn't an office- +holder, nor a white man of any kind in it who was not an office- +holder. If there were any issues or principles in the canvass, he +paid his audience the compliment of knowing all about them, for he +never alluded to any. In another state of society, such a speech of +personalities might have led to subsequent shootings, but no doubt +his adversary would pay him in the same coin when next they met, and +the exhibition seemed to be regarded down here as satisfactory and +enlightened political canvassing for votes. The speaker who replied, +opened his address with a noble tribute to woman (as the first +speaker had ended his), directed to a dozen of that sex who sat in +the gloom of a corner. The young man was moderate in his sarcasm, +and attempted to speak of national issues, but the crowd had small +relish for that sort of thing. At eleven o'clock, when we got away +from the unsavory room (more than half the candles had gone out), the +orator was making slow headway against the refished blackguardism of +the evening. The german was still "on" at the hotel when we ascended +to our chamber, satisfied that Asheville was a lively town. + +The sojourner at Asheville can amuse himself very well by walking or +driving to the many picturesque points of view about the town; livery +stables abound, and the roads are good. The Beau-catcher Hill is +always attractive; and Connolly's, a private place a couple of miles +from town, is ideally situated, being on a slight elevation in the +valley, commanding the entire circuit of mountains, for it has the +air of repose which is so seldom experienced in the location of a +dwelling in America whence an extensive prospect is given. Or if the +visitor is disinclined to exertion, he may lounge in the rooms of the +hospitable Asheville Club; or he may sit on the sidewalk in front of +the hotels, and talk with the colonels and judges and generals and +ex-members of Congress, the talk generally drifting to the new +commercial and industrial life of the South, and only to politics as +it affects these; and he will be pleased, if the conversation takes a +reminiscent turn, with the lack of bitterness and the tone of +friendliness. The negro problem is commonly discussed +philosophically and without heat, but there is always discovered, +underneath, the determination that the negro shall never again get +the legislative upper hand. And the gentleman from South Carolina +who has an upland farm, and is heartily glad slavery is gone, and +wants the negro educated, when it comes to ascendency in politics-- +such as the State once experienced--asks you what you would do +yourself. This is not the place to enter upon the politico-social +question, but the writer may note one impression gathered from much +friendly and agreeable conversation. It is that the Southern whites +misapprehend and make a scarecrow of "social equality." When, during +the war, it was a question at the North of giving the colored people +of the Northern States the ballot, the argument against it used to be +stated in the form of a question: "Do you want your daughter to marry +a negro?" Well, the negro has his political rights in the North, and +there has come no change in the social conditions whatever. And +there is no doubt that the social conditions would remain exactly as +they are at the South if the negro enjoyed all the civil rights which +the Constitution tries to give him. The most sensible view of this +whole question was taken by an intelligent colored man, whose brother +was formerly a representative in Congress. "Social equality," he +said in effect, "is a humbug. We do not expect it, we do not want +it. It does not exist among the blacks themselves. We have our own +social degrees, and choose our own associates. We simply want the +ordinary civil rights, under which we can live and make our way in +peace and amity. This is necessary to our self-respect, and if we +have not self-respect, it is not to be supposed that the race can +improve. I'll tell you what I mean. My wife is a modest, +intelligent woman, of good manners, and she is always neat, and +tastefully dressed. Now, if she goes to take the cars, she is not +permitted to go into a clean car with decent people, but is ordered +into one that is repellent, and is forced into company that any +refined woman would shrink from. But along comes a flauntingly +dressed woman, of known disreputable character, whom my wife would be +disgraced to know, and she takes any place that money will buy. It +is this sort of thing that hurts." + +We took the eastern train one evening to Round Nob (Henry's Station), +some thirty miles, in order to see the wonderful railway that +descends, a distance of eight miles, from the summit of Swannanoa Gap +(2657 feet elevation) to Round Nob Hotel (1607 feet). The Swannanoa +Summit is the dividing line between the waters that flow to the +Atlantic and those that go to the Gulf of Mexico. This fact was +impressed upon us by the inhabitants, who derive a good deal of +comfort from it. Such divides are always matter of local pride. +Unfortunately, perhaps, it was too dark before we reached Henry's to +enable us to see the road in all its loops and parallels as it +appears on the map, but we gained a better effect. The hotel, when +we first sighted it, all its windows blazing with light, was at the +bottom of a well. Beside it--it was sufficiently light to see that-- +a column of water sprang straight into the air to the height, as we +learned afterwards from two official sources, of 225 and 265 feet; +and the information was added that it is the highest fountain in the +world. This stout column, stiff as a flagstaff, with its feathery +head of mist gleaming like silver in the failing light, had the most +charming effect. We passed out of sight of hotel and fountain, but +were conscious of being--whirled on a circular descending grade, and +very soon they were in sight again. Again and again they disappeared +and came to view, now on one side and now on the other, until our +train seemed to be bewitched, making frantic efforts by dodgings and +turnings, now through tunnels and now over high pieces of trestle, to +escape the inevitable attraction that was gravitating it down to the +hospitable lights at the bottom of the well. When we climbed back up +the road in the morning, we had an opportunity to see the marvelous +engineering, but there is little else to see, the view being nearly +always very limited. + +The hotel at the bottom of the ravine, on the side of Round Nob, +offers little in the way of prospect, but it is a picturesque place, +and we could understand why it was full of visitors when we came to +the table. It was probably the best-kept house of entertainment in +the State, and being in the midst of the Black Hills, it offers good +chances for fishing and mountain climbing. + +In the morning the fountain, which is, of course, artificial, refused +to play, the rain in the night having washed in debris which clogged +the conduit. But it soon freed itself and sent up for a long time, +like a sulky geyser, mud and foul water. When it got freedom and +tolerable clearness, we noted that the water went up in pulsations, +which were marked at short distances by the water falling off, giving +the column the appearance of a spine. The summit, always beating the +air in efforts to rise higher, fell over in a veil of mist. + +There are certain excursions that the sojourner at Asheville must +make. He must ride forty-five miles south through Henderson and +Transylvania to Caesar's Head, on the South Carolina border, where +the mountain system abruptly breaks down into the vast southern +plain; where the observer, standing on the edge of the precipice, has +behind him and before him the greatest contrast that nature can +offer. He must also take the rail to Waynesville, and visit the +much-frequented White Sulphur Springs, among the Balsam Mountains, +and penetrate the Great Smoky range by way of Quallatown, and make +the acquaintance of the remnant of Cherokee Indians living on the +north slope of Cheoah Mountain. The Professor could have made it a +matter of personal merit that he escaped all these encounters with +wild and picturesque nature, if his horse had not been too disabled +for such long jaunts. It is only necessary, however, to explain to +the public that the travelers are not gormandizers of scenery, and +were willing to leave some portions of the State to the curiosity of +future excursionists. + +But so much was said about Hickory Nut Gap that a visit to it could +not be evaded. The Gap is about twenty-four miles southeast of +Asheville. In the opinion of a well-informed colonel, who urged us +to make the trip, it is the finest piece of scenery it this region. +We were brought up on the precept "get the best," and it was with +high anticipations that we set out about eleven o'clock one warm, +foggy morning. We followed a very good road through a broken, +pleasant country, gradually growing wilder and less cultivated. +There was heavy rain most of the day on the hills, and occasionally a +shower swept across our path. The conspicuous object toward which we +traveled all the morning was a shapely conical hill at the beginning +of the Gap. + +At three o'clock we stopped at the Widow Sherrill's for dinner. Her +house, only about a mile from the summit, is most picturesquely +situated on a rough slope, giving a wide valley and mountain view. +The house is old rambling, many-roomed, with wide galleries on two +sides. If one wanted a retired retreat for a few days, with good air +and fair entertainment, this could be commended. It is an excellent +fruit region; apples especially are sound and of good flavor. That +may be said of all this part of the State. The climate is adapted to +apples, as the hilly part of New England is. I fancy the fruit +ripens slowly, as it does in New England, and is not subject to quick +decay like much of that grown in the West. But the grape also can be +grown in all this mountain region. Nothing but lack of enterprise +prevents any farmer from enjoying abundance of fruit. The industry +carried on at the moment at the Widow Sherrill's was the artificial +drying of apples for the market. The apples are pared, cored, and +sliced in spirals, by machinery, and dried on tin sheets in a +patented machine. The industry appears to be a profitable one +hereabouts, and is about the only one that calls in the aid of +invention. + +While our dinner was preparing, we studied the well-known pictures of +"Jane" and "Eliza," the photographs of Confederate boys, who had +never returned from the war, and the relations, whom the traveling +photographers always like to pillory in melancholy couples, and some +stray volumes of the Sunday-school Union. Madame Sherrill, who +carries on the farm since the death of her husband, is a woman of +strong and liberal mind, who informed us that she got small comfort +in the churches in the neighborhood, and gave us, in fact, a +discouraging account of the unvital piety of the region. + +The descent from the summit of the Gap to Judge Logan's, nine miles, +is rapid, and the road is wild and occasionally picturesque, +following the Broad River, a small stream when we first overtook it, +but roaring, rocky, and muddy, owing to frequent rains, and now and +then tumbling down in rapids. The noisy stream made the ride +animated, and an occasional cabin, a poor farmhouse, a mill, a +schoolhouse, a store with an assemblage of lean horses tied to the +hitching rails, gave the Professor opportunity for remarks upon the +value of life under such circumstances. + +The valley which we followed down probably owes its celebrity to the +uncommon phenomena of occasional naked rocks and precipices. The +inclosing mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and generally +wooded. I do not think that the ravine would be famous in a country +where exposed ledges and buttressing walls of rock are common. It is +only by comparison with the local scenery that this is remarkable. +About a mile above judge Logan's we caught sight, through the trees, +of the famous waterfall. From the top of the high ridge on the +right, a nearly perpendicular cascade pours over the ledge of rocks +and is lost in the forest. We could see nearly the whole of it, at a +great height above us, on the opposite side of the river, and it +would require an hour's stiff climb to reach its foot. From where we +viewed it, it seemed a slender and not very important, but certainly +a very beautiful cascade, a band of silver in the mass of green +foliage. The fall is said to be 1400 feet. Our colonel insists that +it is a thousand. It may be, but the valley where we stood is at +least at an elevation of 1300 feet; we could not believe that the +ridge over which the water pours is much higher than 3000 feet, and +the length of the fall certainly did not appear to be a quarter of +the height of the mountain from our point of observation. But we had +no desire to belittle this pretty cascade, especially when we found +that Judge Logan would regard a foot abated from the 1400 as a +personal grievance. Mr. Logan once performed the functions of local +judge, a Republican appointment, and he sits around the premises now +in the enjoyment of that past dignity and of the fact that his wife +is postmistress. His house of entertainment is at the bottom of the +valley, a place shut in, warm, damp, and not inviting to a long stay, +although the region boasts a good many natural curiosities. + +It was here that we encountered again the political current, out of +which we had been for a month. The Judge himself was reticent, as +became a public man, but he had conspicuously posted up a monster +prospectus, sent out from Augusta, of a campaign life of Blaine and +Logan, in which the Professor read, with shaking knees, this +sentence: "Sure to be the greatest and hottest [campaign and civil +battle] ever known in this world. The thunder of the supreme +struggle and its reverberations will shake the continents for months, +and will be felt from Pole to Pole." + +For this and other reasons this seemed a risky place to be in. There +was something sinister about the murky atmosphere, and a suspicion of +mosquitoes besides. Had there not been other travelers staying here, +we should have felt still more uneasy. The house faced Bald +Mountain, 4000 feet high, a hill that had a very bad reputation some +years ago, and was visited by newspaper reporters. This is, in fact, +the famous Shaking Mountain. For a long time it had a habit of +trembling, as if in an earthquake spasm, but with a shivering motion +very different from that produced by an earthquake. The only good +that came of it was that it frightened all the "moonshiners," and +caused them to join the church. It is not reported what became of +the church afterwards. It is believed now that the trembling was +caused by the cracking of a great ledge on the mountain, which slowly +parted asunder. Bald Mountain is the scene of Mrs. Burnett's +delightful story of "Louisiana," and of the play of "Esmeralda." +A rock is pointed out toward the summit, which the beholder is asked +to see resembles a hut, and which is called "Esmeralda's Cottage." +But this attractive maiden has departed, and we did not discover any +woman in the region who remotely answers to her description. + +In the morning we rode a mile and a half through the woods and +followed up a small stream to see the celebrated pools, one of which +the Judge said was two hundred feet deep, and another bottomless. +These pools, not round, but on one side circular excavations, some +twenty feet across, worn in the rock by pebbles, are very good +specimens, and perhaps remarkable specimens, of "pot-holes." They +are, however, regarded here as one of the wonders of the world. On +the way to them we saw beautiful wild trumpet-creepers in blossom, +festooning the trees. + +The stream that originates in Hickory Nut Gap is the westernmost +branch of several forks of the Broad, which unite to the southeast in +Rutherford County, flow to Columbia, and reach the Atlantic through +the channel of the Santee. It is not to be confounded with the +French Broad, which originates among the hills of Transylvania, runs +northward past Asheville, and finds its way to the Tennessee through +the Warm Springs Gap in the Bald Mountains. As the French claimed +ownership of all the affluents of the Mississippi, this latter was +called the French Broad. + +It was a great relief the next morning, on our return, to rise out of +the lifeless atmosphere of the Gap into the invigorating air at the +Widow Sherrill's, whose country-seat is three hundred feet higher +than Asheville. It was a day of heavy showers, and apparently of +leisure to the scattered population; at every store and mill was a +congregation of loafers, who had hitched their scrawny horses and +mules to the fences, and had the professional air of the idler and +gossip the world over. The vehicles met on the road were a variety +of the prairie schooner, long wagons with a top of hoops over which +is stretched a cotton cloth. The wagons are without seats, and the +canvas is too low to admit of sitting upright, if there were. The +occupants crawl in at either end, sit or lie on the bottom of the +wagon, and jolt along in shiftless uncomfortableness. + +Riding down the French Broad was one of the original objects of our +journey. Travelers with the same intention may be warned that the +route on horseback is impracticable. The distance to the Warm +Springs is thirty-seven miles; to Marshall, more than halfway, the +road is clear, as it runs on the opposite side of the river from the +railway, and the valley is something more than river and rails. But +below Marshall the valley contracts, and the rails are laid a good +portion of the way in the old stage road. One can walk the track, +but to ride a horse over its sleepers and culverts and occasional +bridges, and dodge the trains, is neither safe nor agreeable. We +sent our horses round--the messenger taking the risk of leading them, +between trains, over the last six or eight miles,--and took the +train. + +The railway, after crossing a mile or two of meadows, hugs the river +all the way. The scenery is the reverse of bold. The hills are low, +monotonous in form, and the stream winds through them, with many a +pretty turn and "reach," with scarcely a ribbon of room to spare on +either side. The river is shallow, rapid, stony, muddy, full of +rocks, with an occasional little island covered with low bushes. The +rock seems to be a clay formation, rotten and colored. As we +approach Warm Springs the scenery becomes a little bolder, and we +emerge into the open space about the Springs through a narrower +defile, guarded by rocks that are really picturesque in color and +splintered decay, one of them being known, of course, as the "Lover's +Leap," a name common in every part of the modern or ancient world +where there is a settlement near a precipice, with always the same +legend attached to it. + +There is a little village at Warm Springs, but the hotel--since +burned and rebuilt--(which may be briefly described as a palatial +shanty) stands by itself close to the river, which is here a deep, +rapid, turbid stream. A bridge once connected it with the road on +the opposite bank, but it was carried away three or four years ago, +and its ragged butments stand as a monument of procrastination, while +the stream is crossed by means of a flatboat and a cable. In front +of the hotel, on the slight slope to the river, is a meager grove of +locusts. The famous spring, close to-the stream, is marked only by a +rough box of wood and an iron pipe, and the water, which has a +temperature of about one hundred degrees, runs to a shabby bath-house +below, in which is a pool for bathing. The bath is very agreeable, +the tepid water being singularly soft and pleasant. It has a +slightly sulphurous taste. Its good effects are much certified. The +grounds, which might be very pretty with care, are ill-kept and +slatternly, strewn with debris, as if everything was left to the +easy-going nature of the servants. The main house is of brick, with +verandas and galleries all round, and a colonnade of thirteen huge +brick and stucco columns, in honor of the thirteen States,--a relic +of post-Revolutionary times, when the house was the resort of +Southern fashion and romance. These columns have stood through one +fire, and perhaps the recent one, which swept away the rest of the +structure. The house is extended in a long wooden edifice, with +galleries and outside stairs, the whole front being nearly seven +hundred feet long. In a rear building is a vast, barrack-like +dining-room, with a noble ball-room above, for dancing is the +important occupation of visitors. + +The situation is very pretty, and the establishment has a +picturesqueness of its own. Even the ugly little brick structure +near the bath-house imposes upon one as Wade Hampton's cottage. No +doubt we liked the place better than if it had been smart, and +enjoyed the neglige condition, and the easy terms on which life is +taken there. There was a sense of abundance in the sight of fowls +tiptoeing about the verandas, and to meet a chicken in the parlor was +a sort of guarantee that we should meet him later on in the dining- +room. There was nothing incongruous in the presence of pigs, +turkeys, and chickens on the grounds; they went along with the good- +natured negro-service and the general hospitality; and we had a +mental rest in the thought that all the gates would have been off the +hinges, if there had been any gates. The guests were very well +treated indeed, and were put under no sort of restraint by +discipline. The long colonnade made an admirable promenade and +lounging-place and point of observation. It was interesting to watch +the groups under the locusts, to see the management of the ferry, the +mounting and dismounting of the riding-parties, and to study the +colors on the steep hill opposite, halfway up which was a neat +cottage and flower-garden. The type of people was very pleasantly +Southern. Colonels and politicians stand in groups and tell stories, +which are followed by explosions of laughter; retire occasionally +into the saloon, and come forth reminded of more stories, and all +lift their hats elaborately and suspend the narratives when a lady +goes past. A company of soldiers from Richmond had pitched its tents +near the hotel, and in the evening the ball-room was enlivened with +uniforms. Among the graceful dancers--and every one danced well, and +with spirit was pointed out the young widow of a son of Andrew +Johnson, whose pretty cottage overlooks the village. But the +Professor, to whom this information was communicated, doubted whether +here it was not a greater distinction to be the daughter of the owner +of this region than to be connected with a President of the United +States. + +A certain air of romance and tradition hangs about the French Broad +and the Warm Springs, which the visitor must possess himself of in +order to appreciate either. This was the great highway of trade and +travel. At certain seasons there was an almost continuous procession +of herds of cattle and sheep passing to the Eastern markets, and of +trains of big wagons wending their way to the inviting lands watered +by the Tennessee. Here came in the summer-time the Southern planters +in coach and four, with a great retinue of household servants, and +kept up for months that unique social life, a mixture of courtly +ceremony and entire freedom, the civilization which had the drawing- +room at one end and the negro-quarters at the other,--which has +passed away. It was a continuation into our own restless era of the +manners and the literature of George the Third, with the accompanying +humor and happy-go-lucky decadence of the negro slaves. On our way +down we saw on the river-bank, under the trees, the old hostelry, +Alexander's, still in decay,--an attractive tavern, that was formerly +one of the notable stopping-places on the river. Master, and fine +lady, and obsequious, larking darky, and lumbering coach, and throng +of pompous and gay life, have all disappeared. There was no room in +this valley for the old institutions and for the iron track. + + "When in the chronicle of wasted time + I see descriptions of the fairest wights, + And beauty making beautiful old rhyme + In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, + We, which now behold these present days, + Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise." + +This perverted use of noble verse was all the response the Friend got +in his attempt to drop into the sentimental vein over the past of the +French Broad. + +The reader must not think there is no enterprise in this sedative and +idle resort. The conceited Yankee has to learn that it is not he +alone who can be accused of the thrift of craft. There is at the +Warm Springs a thriving mill for crushing and pulverizing barites, +known vulgarly as heavy-spar. It is the weight of this heaviest of +minerals, and not its lovely crystals, that gives it value. The rock +is crushed, washed, sorted out by hand, to remove the foreign +substances, then ground and subjected to acids, and at the end of the +process it is as white and fine as the best bolted flour. This heavy +adulterant is shipped to the North in large quantities,--the manager +said he had recently an order for a hundred thousand dollars' worth +of it. What is the use of this powder? Well, it is of use to the +dealer who sells white lead for paint, to increase the weight of the +lead, and it is the belief hereabouts that it is mixed with powdered +sugar. The industry is profitable to those engaged in it. + +It was impossible to get much information about our route into +Tennessee, except that we should go by Paint Rock, and cross Paint +Mountain. Late one morning,--a late start is inevitable here,-- +accompanied by a cavalcade, we crossed the river by the rope ferry, +and trotted down the pretty road, elevated above the stream and tree- +shaded, offering always charming glimpses of swift water and +overhanging foliage (the railway obligingly taking the other side of +the river), to Paint Rock,--six miles. This Paint Rock is a naked +precipice by the roadside, perhaps sixty feet high, which has a large +local reputation. It is said that its face shows painting done by +the Indians, and hieroglyphics which nobody can read. On this bold, +crumbling cliff, innumerable visitors have written their names. We +stared at it a good while to discover the paint and hieroglyphics, +but could see nothing except iron stains. Round the corner is a +farmhouse and place of call for visitors, a neat cottage, with a +display of shells and minerals and flower-pots; and here we turned +north crossed the little stream called Paint River, the only clear +water we had seen in a month, passed into the State of Tennessee, and +by a gentle ascent climbed Paint Mountain. The open forest road, +with the murmur of the stream below, was delightfully exhilarating, +and as we rose the prospect opened,--the lovely valley below, Bald +Mountains behind us, and the Butt Mountains rising as we came over +the ridge. + +Nobody on the way, none of the frowzy women or unintelligent men, +knew anything of the route, or could give us any information of the +country beyond. But as we descended in Tennessee the country and the +farms decidedly improved,--apple-trees and a grapevine now and then. + +A ride of eight miles brought us to Waddle's, hungry and disposed to +receive hospitality. We passed by an old farm building to a new two- +storied, gayly painted house on a hill. We were deceived by +appearances. The new house, with a new couple in it, had nothing to +offer us except some buttermilk. Why should anybody be obliged to +feed roving strangers? As to our horses, the young woman with a baby +in her arms declared, + +"We've got nothing for stock but roughness; perhaps you can get +something at the other house." + +"Roughness," we found out at the other house, meant hay in this +region. We procured for the horses a light meal of green oats, and +for our own dinner we drank at the brook and the Professor produced a +few sonnets. On this sustaining repast we fared on nearly twelve +miles farther, through a rolling, good farming country, offering +little for comment, in search of a night's lodging with one of the +brothers Snap. But one brother declined our company on the plea that +his wife was sick, and the other because his wife lived in +Greenville, and we found ourselves as dusk came on without shelter in +a tavernless land. Between the two refusals we enjoyed the most +picturesque bit of scenery of the day, at the crossing of Camp Creek, +a swift little stream, that swirled round under the ledge of bold +rocks before the ford. This we learned was a favorite camp-meeting +ground. Mary was calling the cattle home at the farm of the second +Snap. It was a very peaceful scene of rural life, and we were +inclined to tarry, but Mary, instead of calling us home with the +cattle, advised us to ride on to Alexander's before it got dark. + +It is proper to say that at Alexander's we began to see what this +pleasant and fruitful country might be, and will be, with thrift and +intelligent farming. Mr. Alexander is a well-to-do farmer, with +plenty of cattle and good barns (always an evidence of prosperity), +who owes his success to industry and an open mind to new ideas. He +was a Unionist during the war, and is a Democrat now, though his +county (Greene) has been Republican. We had been riding all the +afternoon through good land, and encountering a better class of +farmers. Peach-trees abounded (though this was an off year for +fruit), and apples and grapes throve. It is a land of honey and of +milk. The persimmon flourishes; and, sign of abundance generally, we +believe, great flocks of turkey-buzzards--majestic floaters in the +high air--hovered about. This country was ravaged during the war by +Unionists and Confederates alternately, the impartial patriots as +they passed scooping in corn, bacon, and good horses, leaving the +farmers little to live on. Mr. Alexander's farm cost him forty +dollars an acre, and yields good crops of wheat and maize. This was +the first house on our journey where at breakfast we had grace before +meat, though there had been many tables that needed it more. From +the door the noble range of the Big Bald is in sight and not distant; +and our host said he had a shanty on it, to which he was accustomed +to go with his family for a month or six weeks in the summer and +enjoy a real primitive woods life. + +Refreshed by this little touch of civilization, and with horses well +fed, we rode on next morning towards Jonesboro, over a rolling, +rather unpicturesque country, but ennobled by the Big Bald and Butt +ranges, which we had on our right all day. At noon we crossed the +Nollechucky River at a ford where the water was up to the saddle +girth, broad, rapid, muddy, and with a treacherous stony bottom, and +came to the little hamlet of Boylesville, with a flour-mill, and a +hospitable old-fashioned house, where we found shelter from the heat +of the hot day, and where the daughters of the house, especially one +pretty girl in a short skirt and jaunty cap, contradicted the +currently received notion that this world is a weary pilgrimage. The +big parlor, with its photographs and stereoscope, and bits of shell +and mineral, a piano and a melodeon, and a coveted old sideboard of +mahogany, recalled rural New England. Perhaps these refinements are +due to the Washington College (a school for both sexes), which is +near. We noted at the tables in this region a singular use of the +word fruit. When we were asked, Will you have some of the fruit? +and said Yes, we always got applesauce. + +Ten miles more in the late afternoon brought us to Jonesboro, the +oldest town in the State, a pretty place, with a flavor of antiquity, +set picturesquely on hills, with the great mountains in sight. +People from further South find this an agreeable summering place, and +a fair hotel, with odd galleries in front and rear, did not want +company. The Warren Institute for negroes has been flourishing here +ever since the war. + +A ride of twenty miles next day carried us to Union. Before noon we +forded the Watauga, a stream not so large as the Nollechucky, and +were entertained at the big brick house of Mr. Devault, a prosperous +and hospitable farmer. This is a rich country. We had met in the +morning wagon-loads of watermelons and muskmelons, on the way to +Jonesboro, and Mr. Devault set abundance of these refreshing fruits +before us as we lounged on the porch before dinner. + +It was here that we made the acquaintance of a colored woman, a +withered, bent old pensioner of the house, whose industry (she +excelled any modern patent apple-parer) was unabated, although she +was by her own confession (a woman, we believe, never owns her age +till she has passed this point) and the testimony of others a hundred +years old. But age had not impaired the brightness of her eyes, nor +the limberness of her tongue, nor her shrewd good sense. She talked +freely about the want of decency and morality in the young colored +folks of the present day. It was n't so when she was a girl. Long, +long time ago, she and her husband had been sold at sheriff's sale +and separated, and she never had another husband. Not that she +blamed her master so much he could n't help it; he got in debt. And +she expounded her philosophy about the rich, and the danger they are +in. The great trouble is that when a person is rich, he can borrow +money so easy, and he keeps drawin' it out of the bank and pilin' up +the debt, like rails on top of one another, till it needs a ladder to +get on to the pile, and then it all comes down in a heap, and the man +has to begin on the bottom rail again. If she'd to live her life +over again, she'd lay up money; never cared much about it till now. +The thrifty, shrewd old woman still walked about a good deal, and +kept her eye on the neighborhood. Going out that morning she had +seen some fence up the road that needed mending, and she told Mr. +Devault that she didn't like such shiftlessness; she didn't know as +white folks was much better than colored folks. Slavery? Yes, +slavery was pretty bad--she had seen five hundred niggers in +handcuffs, all together in a field, sold to be sent South. + +About six miles from here is a beech grove of historical interest, +worth a visit if we could have spared the time. In it is the large +beech (six and a half feet around six feet from the ground) on which +Daniel Boone shot a bear, when he was a rover in this region. He +himself cut an inscription on the tree recording his prowess, and it +is still distinctly legible: + + D. BOONE CILT A BAR ON THIS TREE, 1760. + +This tree is a place of pilgrimage, and names of people from all +parts of the country are cut on it, until there is scarcely room for +any more records of such devotion. The grove is ancient looking, the +trees are gnarled and moss-grown. Hundreds of people go there, and +the trees are carved all over with their immortal names. + +A pleasant ride over a rich rolling country, with an occasional strip +of forest, brought us to Union in the evening, with no other +adventure than the meeting of a steam threshing-machine in the road, +with steam up, clattering along. The devil himself could not invent +any machine calculated to act on the nerves of a horse like this. +Jack took one look and then dashed into the woods, scraping off his +rider's hat but did not succeed in getting rid of his burden or +knocking down any trees. + +Union, on the railway, is the forlornest of little villages, with +some three hundred inhabitants and a forlorn hotel, kept by an ex- +stage-driver. The village, which lies on the Holston, has no +drinking-water in it nor enterprise enough to bring it in; not a well +nor a spring in its limits; and for drinking-water everybody crosses +the river to a spring on the other side. A considerable part of the +labor of the town is fetching water over the bridge. On a hill +overlooking the village is a big, pretentious brick house, with a +tower, the furniture of which is an object of wonder to those who +have seen it. It belonged to the late Mrs. Stover, daughter of +Andrew Johnson. The whole family of the ex-President have departed +this world, but his memory is still green in this region, where he +was almost worshiped--so the people say in speaking of him. + +Forlorn as was the hotel at Union, the landlord's daughters were +beginning to draw the lines in rural refinement. One of them had +been at school in Abingdon. Another, a mature young lady of fifteen, +who waited on the table, in the leisure after supper asked the Friend +for a light for her cigarette, which she had deftly rolled. + +"Why do you smoke?" + +"So as I shan't get into the habit of dipping. Do you think dipping +is nice?" + +The traveler was compelled to say that he did not, though he had seen +a good deal of it wherever he had been. + +"All the girls dips round here. But me and my sisters rather smoke +than get in a habit of dipping." + +To the observation that Union seemed to be a dull place : + +"Well, there's gay times here in the winter--dancing. Like to dance? +Well, I should say! Last winter I went over to Blountsville to a +dance in the court-house; there was a trial between Union and +Blountsville for the best dancing. You bet I brought back the cake +and the blue ribbon." + +The country was becoming too sophisticated, and the travelers +hastened to the end of their journey. The next morning Bristol, at +first over a hilly country with magnificent oak-trees,--happily not +girdled, as these stately monarchs were often seen along the roads in +North Carolina,--and then up Beaver Creek, a turbid stream, turning +some mills. When a closed woolen factory was pointed out to the +Professor (who was still traveling for Reform), as the result of the +agitation in Congress, he said, Yes, the effect of agitation was +evident in all the decayed dams and ancient abandoned mills we had +seen in the past month. + +Bristol is mainly one long street, with some good stores, but +generally shabby, and on this hot morning sleepy. One side of the +street is in Tennessee, the other in Virginia. How handy for +fighting this would have been in the war, if Tennessee had gone out +and Virginia stayed in. At the hotel--may a kind Providence wake it +up to its responsibilities--we had the pleasure of reading one of +those facetious handbills which the great railway companies of the +West scatter about, the serious humor of which is so pleasing to our +English friends. This one was issued by the accredited agents of the +Ohio and Mississippi Railway, and dated April 1, 1984. One sentence +will suffice: + +"Allow us to thank our old traveling friends for the many favors in +our line, and if you are going on your bridal trip, or to see your +girl out West, drop in at the general office of the Ohio and +Mississippi Railway and we will fix you up in Queen Anne style. +Passengers for Dakota, Montana, or the Northwest will have an +overcoat and sealskin cap thrown in with all tickets sold on or after +the above date." + +The great republic cannot yet take itself seriously. Let us hope the +humors of it will last another generation. Meditating on this, we +hailed at sundown the spires of Abingdon, and regretted the end of a +journey that seems to have been undertaken for no purpose. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of On Horseback, by Charles Dudley Warner + diff --git a/old/cwohb10.zip b/old/cwohb10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d276828 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cwohb10.zip diff --git a/old/cwohb11.txt b/old/cwohb11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a72db97 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cwohb11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3608 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of On Horseback by Charles Dudley Warner +#30 in our series by Charles Dudley Warner + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +NOTE: This work has been previously published in [Etext #2674] +The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 4 +Project Gutenberg The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner +4warn10.txt or 4warn10.zip + + + + + +ON HORSEBACK + +By Charles Dudley Warner + + + +I + +"The way to mount a horse"--said the Professor. + +"If you have no ladder--put in the Friend of Humanity." + +The Professor had ridden through the war for the Union on the right +side, enjoying a much better view of it than if he had walked, and +knew as much about a horse as a person ought to know for the sake of +his character. The man who can recite the tales of the Canterbury +Pilgrims, on horseback, giving the contemporary pronunciation, never +missing an accent by reason of the trot, and at the same time witch +North Carolina and a strip of East Tennessee with his noble +horsemanship, is a kind of Literary Centaur of whose double +instruction any Friend of Humanity may be glad to avail himself. + +"The way to mount a horse is to grasp the mane with the left hand +holding the bridle-rein, put your left foot in the stirrup, with the +right hand on the back of the saddle, and---" + +Just then the horse stepped quickly around on his hind feet, and +looked the Professor in the face. The Superintendents of Affairs, +who occupy the flagging in front of the hotel, seated in cane- +bottomed chairs tilted back, smiled. These useful persons appear to +have a life-lease of this portion of the city pavement, and pretty +effectually block it up nearly all day and evening. When a lady +wishes to make her way through the blockade, it is the habit of these +observers of life to rise and make room, touching their hats, while +she picks her way through, and goes down the street with a pretty +consciousness of the flutter she has caused. The war has not changed +the Southern habit of sitting out-of-doors, but has added a new +element of street picturesqueness in groups of colored people +lounging about the corners. There appears to be more leisure than +ever. + +The scene of this little lesson in horsemanship was the old town of +Abingdon, in southwest Virginia, on the Virginia and East Tennessee +railway; a town of ancient respectability, which gave birth to the +Johnstons and Floyds and other notable people; a town, that still +preserves the flavor of excellent tobacco and, something of the easy- +going habits of the days of slavery, and is a sort of educational +center, where the young ladies of the region add the final graces of +intellectual life in moral philosophy and the use of the globes to +their natural gifts. The mansion of the late and left Floyd is now a +seminary, and not far from it is the Stonewall Jackson Institute, in +the midst of a grove of splendid oaks, whose stately boles and wide- +spreading branches give a dignity to educational life. The +distinction of the region is its superb oak-trees. As it was +vacation in these institutions of learning, the travelers did not see +any of the vines that traditionally cling to the oak. + +The Professor and the Friend of Humanity were about starting on a +journey, across country southward, through regions about which the +people of Abingdon could give little useful information. If the +travelers had known the capacities and resources of the country, they +would not have started without a supply train, or the establishment +of bases of provisions in advance. But, as the Professor remarked, +knowledge is something that one acquires when he has no use for it. +The horses were saddled; the riders were equipped with flannel shirts +and leather leggings; the saddle-bags were stuffed with clean linen, +and novels, and sonnets of Shakespeare, and other baggage, it would +have been well if they had been stuffed with hard-tack, for in real +life meat is more than raiment. + +The hotel, in front of which there is cultivated so much of what the +Germans call sitzfleisch, is a fair type of the majority of Southern +hotels, and differs from the same class in the North in being left a +little more to run itself. The only information we obtained about it +was from its porter at the station, who replied to the question, "Is +it the best?" "We warrant you perfect satisfaction in every +respect." This seems to be only a formula of expression, for we +found that the statement was highly colored. It was left to our +imagination to conjecture how the big chambers of the old house, with +their gaping fireplaces, might have looked when furnished and filled +with gay company, and we got what satisfaction we could out of a +bygone bustle and mint-julep hilarity. In our struggles with the +porter to obtain the little items of soap, water, and towels, we were +convinced that we had arrived too late, and that for perfect +satisfaction we should have been here before the war. It was not +always as now. In colonial days the accommodations and prices at +inns were regulated by law. In the old records in the court-house we +read that if we had been here in 1777, we could have had a gallon of +good rum for sixteen shillings; a quart bowl of rum toddy made with +loaf sugar for two shillings, or with brown sugar for one shilling +and sixpence. In 1779 prices had risen. Good rum sold for four +pounds a gallon. It was ordered that a warm dinner should cost +twelve shillings, a cold dinner nine shillings, and a good breakfast +twelve shillings. But the item that pleased us most, and made us +regret our late advent, was that for two shillings we could have had +a "good lodging, with clean sheets." The colonists were fastidious +people. + +Abingdon, prettily situated on rolling hills, and a couple of +thousand feet above the sea, with views of mountain peaks to the +south, is a cheerful and not too exciting place for a brief sojourn, +and hospitable and helpful to the stranger. We had dined--so much, +at least, the public would expect of us--with a descendant of +Pocahontas; we had assisted on Sunday morning at the dedication of a +new brick Methodist church, the finest edifice in the region-- +a dedication that took a long time, since the bishop would not +proceed with it until money enough was raised in open meeting to pay +the balance due on it: a religious act, though it did give a business +aspect to the place at the time; and we had been the light spots in +the evening service at the most aristocratic church of color. The +irresponsibility of this amiable race was exhibited in the tardiness +with which they assembled: at the appointed time nobody was there +except the sexton; it was three quarters of an hour before the +congregation began to saunter in, and the sermon was nearly over +before the pews were at all filled. Perhaps the sermon was not new, +but it was fervid, and at times the able preacher roared so that +articulate sounds were lost in the general effect. It was precisely +these passages of cataracts of sound and hard breathing which excited +the liveliest responses,--"Yes, Lord," and "Glory to God." Most of +these responses came from the "Amen corner." The sermon contained +the usual vivid description of the last judgment--ah, and I fancied +that the congregation did not get the ordinary satisfaction out of +it. Fashion had entered the fold, and the singing was mostly +executed by a choir in the dusky gallery, who thinly and harshly +warbled the emotional hymns. It occupied the minister a long time to +give out the notices of the week, and there was not an evening or +afternoon that had not its meetings, its literary or social +gathering, its picnic or fair for the benefit of the church, its +Dorcas society, or some occasion of religious sociability. The +raising of funds appeared to be the burden on the preacher's mind. +Two collections were taken up. At the first, the boxes appeared to +get no supply except from the two white trash present. But the +second was more successful. After the sermon was over, an elder took +his place at a table within the rails, and the real business of the +evening began. Somebody in the Amen corner struck up a tune that had +no end, but a mighty power of setting the congregation in motion. +The leader had a voice like the pleasant droning of a bag-pipe, and +the faculty of emitting a continuous note like that instrument, +without stopping to breathe. It went on and on like a Bach fugue, +winding and whining its way, turning the corners of the lines of the +catch without a break. The effect was soon visible in the emotional +crowd: feet began to move in a regular cadence and voices to join in, +with spurts of ejaculation; and soon, with an air of martyrdom, the +members began to leave their seats and pass before the table and +deposit their contributions. It was a cent contribution, and we +found it very difficult, under the contagious influence of the hum +from the Amen corner, not to rise and go forward and deposit a cent. +If anything could extract the pennies from a reluctant worldling, it +would be the buzzing of this tune. It went on and on, until the +house appeared to be drained dry of its cash; and we inferred by the +stopping of the melody that the preacher's salary was secure for the +time being. On inquiring, we ascertained that the pecuniary flood +that evening had risen to the height of a dollar and sixty cents. + +All was ready for the start. It should have been early in the +morning, but it was not; for Virginia is not only one of the blessed +regions where one can get a late breakfast, but where it is almost +impossible to get an early one. At ten A. M. the two horsemen rode +away out of sight of the Abingdon spectators, down the eastern +turnpike. The day was warm, but the air was full of vitality and the +spirit of adventure. It was the 22d of July. The horses were not +ambitious, but went on at an easy fox-trot that permits observation +and encourages conversation. It had been stipulated that the horses +should be good walkers, the one essential thing in a horseback +journey. Few horses, even in a country where riding is general, are +trained to walk fast. We hear much of horses that can walk five +miles an hour, but they are as rare as white elephants. Our horses +were only fair walkers. We realized how necessary this +accomplishment is, for between the Tennessee line and Asheville, +North Carolina, there is scarcely a mile of trotting-ground. + +We soon turned southward and descended into the Holston River Valley. +Beyond lay the Tennessee hills and conspicuous White-Top Mountain +(5530 feet), which has a good deal of local celebrity (standing where +the States of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina corner), and +had been pointed out to us at Abingdon. We had been urged, +personally and by letter, to ascend this mountain, without fail. +People recommend mountains to their friends as they do patent +medicines. As we leisurely jogged along we discussed this, and +endeavored to arrive at some rule of conduct for the journey. The +Professor expressed at once a feeling about mountain-climbing that +amounted to hostility,--he would go nowhere that he could not ride. +Climbing was the most unsatisfactory use to which a mountain could be +put. As to White-Top, it was a small mountain, and not worth +ascending. The Friend of Humanity, who believes in mountain-climbing +as a theory, and for other people, and knows the value of being able +to say, without detection, that he has ascended any high mountain +about which he is questioned,--since this question is the first one +asked about an exploration in a new country,--saw that he should have +to use a good deal of diplomacy to get the Professor over any +considerable elevation on the trip. And he had to confess also that +a view from a mountain is never so satisfactory as a view of a +mountain, from a moderate height. The Professor, however, did not +argue the matter on any such reasonable ground, but took his stand on +his right as a man not to ascend a mountain. With this appeal to +first principles,--a position that could not be confuted on account +of its vagueness (although it might probably be demonstrated that in +society man has no such right), there was no way of agreement except +by a compromise. It was accordingly agreed that no mountain under +six thousand feet is worth ascending; that disposed of White-Top. It +was further agreed that any mountain that is over six thousand feet +high is too high to ascend on foot. + +With this amicable adjustment we forded the Holston, crossing it +twice within a few miles. This upper branch of the Tennessee is a +noble stream, broad, with a rocky bed and a swift current. Fording +it is ticklish business except at comparatively low water, and as it +is subject to sudden rises, there must be times when it seriously +interrupts travel. This whole region, full of swift streams, is +without a bridge, and, as a consequence, getting over rivers and +brooks and the dangers of ferries occupy a prominent place in the +thoughts of the inhabitants. The life necessarily had the "frontier" +quality all through, for there can be little solid advance in +civilization in the uncertainties of a bridgeless condition. An +open, pleasant valley, the Holston, but cultivation is more and more +negligent and houses are few and poorer as we advance. + +We had left behind the hotels of "perfect satisfaction," and expected +to live on the country, trusting to the infrequent but remunerated +hospitality of the widely scattered inhabitants. We were to dine at +Ramsey's. Ramsey's had been recommended to us as a royal place of +entertainment the best in all that region; and as the sun grew hot in +the sandy valley, and the weariness of noon fell upon us, we +magnified Ramsey's in our imagination,--the nobility of its +situation, its cuisine, its inviting restfulness,--and half decided +to pass the night there in the true abandon of plantation life. Long +before we reached it, the Holston River which we followed had become +the Laurel, a most lovely, rocky, winding stream, which we forded +continually, for the valley became too narrow much of the way to +accommodate a road and a river. Eagerly as we were looking out for +it, we passed the great Ramsey's without knowing it, for it was the +first of a little settlement of two houses and a saw-mill and barn. +It was a neat log house of two lower rooms and a summer kitchen, +quite the best of the class that we saw, and the pleasant mistress of +it made us welcome. Across the road and close, to the Laurel was the +spring-house, the invariable adjunct to every well-to-do house in the +region, and on the stony margin of the stream was set up the big +caldron for the family washing; and here, paddling in the shallow +stream, while dinner was preparing, we established an intimacy with +the children and exchanged philosophical observations on life with +the old negress who was dabbling the clothes. What impressed this +woman was the inequality in life. She jumped to the unwarranted +conclusion that the Professor and the Friend were very rich, and +spoke with asperity of the difficulty she experienced in getting +shoes and tobacco. It was useless to point out to her that her +alfresco life was singularly blessed and free from care, and the +happy lot of any one who could loiter all day by this laughing +stream, undisturbed by debt or ambition. Everybody about the place +was barefooted, except the mistress, including the comely daughter of +eighteen, who served our dinner in the kitchen. The dinner was +abundant, and though it seemed to us incongruous at the time, we were +not twelve hours older when we looked back upon it with longing. On +the table were hot biscuit, ham, pork, and green beans, apple-sauce, +blackberry preserves, cucumbers, coffee, plenty of milk, honey, and +apple and blackberry pie. Here we had our first experience, and I +may say new sensation, of "honey on pie." It has a cloying sound as +it is written, but the handmaiden recommended it with enthusiasm, and +we evidently fell in her esteem, as persons from an uncultivated +society, when we declared our inexperience of "honey on pie." "Where +be you from?" It turned out to be very good, and we have tried to +introduce it in families since our return, with indifferent success. +There did not seem to be in this family much curiosity about the +world at large, nor much stir of social life. The gayety of madame +appeared to consist in an occasional visit to paw and maw and +grandmaw, up the river a few miles, where she was raised. + +Refreshed by the honey and fodder at Ramsey's, the pilgrims went +gayly along the musical Laurel, in the slanting rays of the afternoon +sun, which played upon the rapids and illumined all the woody way. +Inspired by the misapprehension of the colored philosopher and the +dainties of the dinner, the Professor soliloquized: + + "So am I as the rich, whose blessed key + Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, + The which he will not every hour survey, + For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. + Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare, + Since seldom coming, in the long year set, + Like stones of wealth they thinly placed are, + Or captain jewels in the carcanet." + +Five miles beyond Ramsey's the Tennessee line was crossed. The +Laurel became more rocky, swift, full of rapids, and the valley +narrowed down to the riverway, with standing room, however, for +stately trees along the banks. The oaks, both black and white, were, +as they had been all day, gigantic in size and splendid in foliage. +There is a certain dignity in riding in such stately company, and the +travelers clattered along over the stony road under the impression of +possible high adventure in a new world of such freshness. Nor was +beauty wanting. The rhododendrons had, perhaps, a week ago reached +their climax, and now began to strew the water and the ground with +their brilliant petals, dashing all the way with color; but they were +still matchlessly beautiful. Great banks of pink and white covered +the steep hillsides; the bending stems, ten to twenty feet high, hung +their rich clusters over the river; avenues of glory opened away in +the glade of the stream; and at every turn of the winding way vistas +glowing with the hues of romance wrenched exclamations of delight and +wonder from the Shakespearean sonneteer and his humble Friend. In +the deep recesses of the forest suddenly flamed to the view, like the +splashes of splendor on the somber canvas of an old Venetian, these +wonders of color,--the glowing summer-heart of the woods. + +It was difficult to say, meantime, whether the road was laid out in +the river, or the river in the road. In the few miles to Egger's +(this was the destination of our great expectations for the night) +the stream was crossed twenty-seven times,--or perhaps it would be +more proper to say that the road was crossed twenty-seven times. +Where the road did not run in the river, its bed was washed out and +as stony as the bed of the stream. This is a general and accurate +description of all the roads in this region, which wind along and in +the streams, through narrow valleys, shut in by low and steep hills. +The country is full of springs and streams, and between Abingdon and +Egger's is only one (small) bridge. In a region with scarcely any +level land or intervale, farmers are at a disadvantage. All along +the road we saw nothing but mean shanties, generally of logs, with +now and then a decent one-story frame, and the people looked +miserably poor. + +As we picked our way along up the Laurel, obliged for the most part +to ride single-file, or as the Professor expressed it, + + "Let me confess that we two must be twain, + Although our undivided loves are one," + +we gathered information about Egger's from the infrequent hovels on +the road, which inflamed our imaginations. Egger was the thriving +man of the region, and lived in style in a big brick house. We began +to feel a doubt that Egger would take us in, and so much did his +brick magnificence impress us that we regretted we had not brought +apparel fit for the society we were about to enter. + +It was half-past six, and we were tired and hungry, when the domain +of Egger towered in sight,--a gaunt, two-story structure of raw +brick, unfinished, standing in a narrow intervale. We rode up to the +gate, and asked a man who sat in the front-door porch if this was +Egger's, and if we could be accommodated for the night. The man, +without moving, allowed that it was Egger's, and that we could +probably stay there. This person, however, exhibited so much +indifference to our company, he was such a hairy, unkempt man, and +carried on face, hands, and clothes so much more of the soil of the +region than a prudent proprietor would divert from raising corn, that +we set him aside as a poor relation, and asked for Mr. Egger. But +the man, still without the least hospitable stir, admitted that that +was the name he went by, and at length advised us to "lite" and hitch +our horses, and sit on the porch with him and enjoy the cool of the +evening. The horses would be put up by and by, and in fact things +generally would come round some time. This turned out to be the easy +way of the country. Mr. Egger was far from being inhospitable, but +was in no hurry, and never had been in a hurry. He was not exactly a +gentleman of the old school. He was better than that. He dated from +the time when there were no schools at all, and he lived in that +placid world which is without information and ideas. Mr. Egger +showed his superiority by a total lack of curiosity about any other +world. + +This brick house, magnificent by comparison with other dwellings in +this country, seemed to us, on nearer acquaintance, only a thin, +crude shell of a house, half unfinished, with bare rooms, the +plastering already discolored. In point of furnishing it had not yet +reached the "God bless our Home" stage in crewel. In the narrow +meadow, a strip of vivid green south of the house, ran a little +stream, fed by a copious spring, and over it was built the inevitable +spring-house. A post, driven into the bank by the stream, supported +a tin wash-basin, and here we performed our ablutions. The traveler +gets to like this freedom and primitive luxury. + +The farm of Egger produces corn, wheat, grass, and sheep; it is a +good enough farm, but most of it lies at an angle of thirty-five to +forty degrees. The ridge back of the house, planted in corn, was as +steep as the roof of his dwelling. It seemed incredible that it ever +could have been plowed, but the proprietor assured us that it was +plowed with mules, and I judged that the harvesting must be done by +squirrels. The soil is good enough, if it would stay in place, but +all the hillsides are seamed with gullies. The discolored state of +the streams was accounted for as soon as we saw this cultivated land. +No sooner is the land cleared of trees and broken up than it begins +to wash. We saw more of this later, especially in North Carolina, +where we encountered no stream of water that was not muddy, and saw +no cultivated ground that was not washed. The process of denudation +is going on rapidly wherever the original forests are girdled (a +common way of preparing for crops), or cut away. + +As the time passed and there was no sign of supper, the question +became a burning one, and we went to explore the kitchen. No sign of +it there. No fire in the stove, nothing cooked in the house, of +course. Mrs. Egger and her comely young barefooted daughter had +still the milking to attend to, and supper must wait for the other +chores. It seemed easier to be Mr. Egger, in this state of +existence, and sit on the front porch and meditate on the price of +mules and the prospect of a crop, than to be Mrs. Egger, whose work +was not limited from sun to sun; who had, in fact, a day's work to do +after the men-folks had knocked off; whose chances of neighborhood +gossip were scanty, whose amusements were confined to a religious +meeting once a fortnight. Good, honest people these, not unduly +puffed up by the brick house, grubbing away year in and year out. +Yes, the young girl said, there was a neighborhood party, now and +then, in the winter. What a price to pay for mere life! + +Long before supper was ready, nearly nine o'clock, we had almost lost +interest in it. Meantime two other guests had arrived, a couple of +drovers from North Carolina, who brought into the circle--by this +time a wood-fire had been kindled in the sitting-room, which +contained a bed, an almanac, and some old copies of a newspaper--a +rich flavor of cattle, and talk of the price of steers. As to +politics, although a presidential campaign was raging, there was +scarcely an echo of it here. This was Johnson County, Tennessee, a +strong Republican county but dog-gone it, says Mr. Egger, it's no +use to vote; our votes are overborne by the rest of the State. Yes, +they'd got a Republican member of Congress,--he'd heard his name, but +he'd forgotten it. The drover said he'd heard it also, but he didn't +take much interest in such things, though he wasn't any Republican. +Parties is pretty much all for office, both agreed. Even the +Professor, who was traveling in the interest of Reform, couldn't wake +up a discussion out of such a state of mind. + +Alas! the supper, served in a room dimly lighted with a smoky lamp, +on a long table covered with oilcloth, was not of the sort to arouse +the delayed and now gone appetite of a Reformer, and yet it did not +lack variety: cornpone (Indian meal stirred up with water and heated +through), hot biscuit, slack-baked and livid, fried salt-pork +swimming in grease, apple-butter, pickled beets, onions and cucumbers +raw, coffee (so-called), buttermilk, and sweet milk when specially +asked for (the correct taste, however, is for buttermilk), and pie. +This was not the pie of commerce, but the pie of the country,--two +thick slabs of dough, with a squeezing of apple between. The +profusion of this supper staggered the novices, but the drovers +attacked it as if such cooking were a common occurrence and did +justice to the weary labors of Mrs. Egger. + +Egger is well prepared to entertain strangers, having several rooms +and several beds in each room. Upon consultation with the drovers, +they said they'd just as soon occupy an apartment by themselves, and +we gave up their society for the night. The beds in our chamber had +each one sheet, and the room otherwise gave evidence of the modern +spirit; for in one corner stood the fashionable aesthetic decoration +of our Queen Anne drawing-rooms,--the spinning-wheel. Soothed by +this concession to taste, we crowded in between the straw and the +home-made blanket and sheet, and soon ceased to hear the barking of +dogs and the horned encounters of the drovers' herd. + +We parted with Mr. Egger after breakfast (which was a close copy of +the supper) with more respect than regret. His total charge for the +entertainment of two men and two horses--supper, lodging, and +breakfast--was high or low, as the traveler chose to estimate it. It +was $1.20: that is, thirty cents for each individual, or ten cents +for each meal and lodging. + +Our road was a sort of by-way up Gentry Creek and over the Cut Laurel +Gap to Worth's, at Creston Post Office, in North Carolina,--the next +available halting place, said to be fifteen miles distant, and +turning out to be twenty-two, and a rough road. There is a little +settlement about Egger's, and the first half mile of our way we had +the company of the schoolmistress, a modest, pleasant-spoken girl. +Neither she nor any other people we encountered had any dialect or +local peculiarity of speech. Indeed, those we encountered that +morning had nothing in manner or accent to distinguish them. The +novelists had led us to expect something different; and the modest +and pretty young lady with frank and open blue eyes, who wore gloves +and used the common English speech, had never figured in the fiction +of the region. Cherished illusions vanish often on near approach. +The day gave no peculiarity of speech to note, except the occasional +use of "hit" for "it." + +The road over Cut Laurel Gap was very steep and stony, the +thermometer mounted up to 80 deg., and, notwithstanding the beauty of +the way, the ride became tedious before we reached the summit. On +the summit is the dwelling and distillery of a colonel famous in +these parts. We stopped at the house for a glass of milk; the +colonel was absent, and while the woman in charge went after it, we +sat on the veranda and conversed with a young lady, tall, gent, well +favored, and communicative, who leaned in the doorway. + +"Yes, this house stands on the line. Where you sit, you are in +Tennessee; I'm in North Carolina." + +"Do you live here?" + +"Law, no; I'm just staying a little while at the colonel's. I live +over the mountain here, three miles from Taylorsville. I thought I'd +be where I could step into North Carolina easy." + +"How's that?" + +"Well, they wanted me to go before the grand jury and testify about +some pistol-shooting down by our house, some friends of mine got into +a little difficulty,--and I did n't want to. I never has no +difficulty with nobody, never says nothing about nobody, has nothing +against nobody, and I reckon nobody has nothing against me." + +"Did you come alone?" + +"Why, of course. I come across the mountain by a path through the +woods. That's nothing." + +A discreet, pleasant, pretty girl. This surely must be the Esmeralda +who lives in these mountains, and adorns low life by her virgin +purity and sentiment. As she talked on, she turned from time to time +to the fireplace behind her, and discharged a dark fluid from her +pretty lips, with accuracy of aim, and with a nonchalance that was +not assumed, but belongs to our free-born American girls. I cannot +tell why this habit of hers (which is no worse than the sister habit +of "dipping") should take her out of the romantic setting that her +face and figure had placed her in; but somehow we felt inclined to +ride on farther for our heroine. + +"And yet," said the Professor, as we left the site of the colonel's +thriving distillery, and by a winding, picturesque road through a +rough farming country descended into the valley,--"and yet, why fling +aside so readily a character and situation so full of romance, on +account of a habit of this mountain Helen, which one of our best +poets has almost made poetical, in the case of the pioneer taking his +westward way, with ox-goad pointing to the sky: + + "'He's leaving on the pictured rock + His fresh tobacco stain.' + +"To my mind the incident has Homeric elements. The Greeks would have +looked at it in a large, legendary way. Here is Helen, strong and +lithe of limb, ox-eyed, courageous, but woman-hearted and love- +inspiring, contended for by all the braves and daring moonshiners of +Cut Laurel Gap, pursued by the gallants of two States, the prize of a +border warfare of bowie knives and revolvers. This Helen, +magnanimous as attractive, is the witness of a pistol difficulty on +her behalf, and when wanted by the areopagus, that she may neither +implicate a lover nor punish an enemy (having nothing, this noble +type of her sex against nobody), skips away to Mount Ida, and there, +under the aegis of the flag of her country, in a Licensed Distillery, +stands with one slender foot in Tennessee and the other in North +Carolina" + +"Like the figure of the Republic itself, superior to state +sovereignty," interposed the Friend. + +"I beg your pardon," said the Professor, urging up Laura Matilda (for +so he called the nervous mare, who fretted herself into a fever in +the stony path), "I was quite able to get the woman out of that +position without the aid of a metaphor. It is a large and Greek +idea, that of standing in two mighty States, superior to the law, +looking east and looking west, ready to transfer her agile body to +either State on the approach of messengers of the court; and I'll be +hanged if I didn't think that her nonchalant rumination of the weed, +combined with her lofty moral attitude, added something to the +picture." + +The Friend said that he was quite willing to join in the extremest +defense of the privileges of beauty,--that he even held in abeyance +judgment on the practice of dipping; but when it came to chewing, gum +was as far as he could go as an allowance for the fair sex. + + "When I consider everything that grows + Holds in perfection but a little moment..." + +The rest of the stanza was lost, for the Professor was splashing +through the stream. No sooner had we descended than the fording of +streams began again. The Friend had been obliged to stipulate that +the Professor should go ahead at these crossings, to keep the +impetuous nag of the latter from throwing half the contents of the +stream upon his slower and uncomplaining companion. + +What a lovely country, but for the heat of noon and the long +wearisomeness of the way!--not that the distance was great, but miles +and miles more than expected. How charming the open glades of the +river, how refreshing the great forests of oak and chestnut, and what +a panorama of beauty the banks of rhododendrons, now intermingled +with the lighter pink and white of the laurel! In this region the +rhododendron is called laurel and the laurel (the sheep-laurel of +New England) is called ivy. + +At Worth's, well on in the afternoon, we emerged into a wide, open +farming intervale, a pleasant place of meadows and streams and decent +dwellings. Worth's is the trading center of the region, has a post +office and a saw-mill and a big country store; and the dwelling of +the proprietor is not unlike a roomy New England country house. +Worth's has been immemorially a stopping-place in a region where +places of accommodation are few. The proprietor, now an elderly man, +whose reminiscences are long ante bellum, has seen the world grow up +about him, he the honored, just center of it, and a family come up +into the modern notions of life, with a boarding-school education and +glimpses of city life and foreign travel. I fancy that nothing but +tradition and a remaining Southern hospitality could induce this +private family to suffer the incursions of this wayfaring man. Our +travelers are not apt to be surprised at anything in American life, +but they did not expect to find a house in this region with two +pianos and a bevy of young ladies, whose clothes were certainly not +made on Cut Laurel Gap, and to read in the books scattered about the +house the evidences of the finishing schools with which our country +is blessed, nor to find here pupils of the Stonewall Jackson +Institute at Abingdon. With a flush of local pride, the Professor +took up, in the roomy, pleasant chamber set apart for the guests, a +copy of Porter's "Elements of Moral Science." + +"Where you see the 'Elements of Moral Science,'" the Friend +generalized, "there'll be plenty of water and towels;" and the sign +did not fail. The friends intended to read this book in the cool of +the day; but as they sat on the long veranda, the voice of a maiden +reading the latest novel to a sewing group behind the blinds in the +drawing-room; and the antics of a mule and a boy in front of the +store opposite; and the arrival of a spruce young man, who had just +ridden over from somewhere, a matter of ten miles' gallop, to get a +medicinal potion for his sick mother, and lingered chatting with the +young ladies until we began to fear that his mother would recover +before his return; the coming and going of lean women in shackly +wagons to trade at the store; the coming home of the cows, splashing +through the stream, hooking right and left, and lowing for the hand +of the milker,--all these interruptions, together with the generally +drowsy quiet of the approach of evening, interfered with the study of +the Elements. And when the travelers, after a refreshing rest, went +on their way next morning, considering the Elements and the pianos +and the refinement, to say nothing of the cuisine, which is not +treated of in the text-book referred to, they were content with a +bill double that of brother Egger, in his brick magnificence. + +The simple truth is, that the traveler in this region must be content +to feed on natural beauties. And it is an unfortunate truth in +natural history that the appetite for this sort of diet fails after a +time, if the inner man is not supplied with other sort of food. +There is no landscape in the world that is agreeable after two days +of rusty-bacon and slack biscuit. + +"How lovely this would be," exclaimed the Professor, if it had a +background of beefsteak and coffee! + +We were riding along the west fork of the Laurel, distinguished +locally as Three Top Creek,--or, rather, we were riding in it, +crossing it thirty-one times within six miles; a charming wood (and +water) road, under the shade of fine trees with the rhododendron +illuminating the way, gleaming in the forest and reflected in the +stream, all the ten miles to Elk Cross Roads, our next destination. +We had heard a great deal about Elk Cross Roads; it was on the map, +it was down in the itinerary furnished by a member of the Coast +Survey. We looked forward to it as a sweet place of repose from the +noontide heat. Alas! Elk Cross Roads is a dirty grocery store, +encumbered with dry-goods boxes, fly-blown goods, flies, loafers. In +reply to our inquiry we were told that they had nothing to eat, for +us, and not a grain of feed for the horses. But there was a man a +mile farther on, who was well to do and had stores of food,--old man +Tatern would treat us in bang-up style. The difficulty of getting +feed for the horses was chronic all through the journey. The last +corn crop had failed, the new oats and corn had not come in, and the +country was literally barren. We had noticed all along that the hens +were taking a vacation, and that chickens were not put forward as an +article of diet. + +We were unable, when we reached the residence of old man Tatem, to +imagine how the local superstition of his wealth arose. His house is +of logs, with two rooms, a kitchen and a spare room, with a low loft +accessible by a ladder at the side of the chimney. The chimney is a +huge construction of stone, separating the two parts of the house; in +fact, the chimney was built first, apparently, and the two rooms were +then built against it. The proprietor sat in a little railed +veranda. These Southern verandas give an air to the meanest +dwelling, and they are much used; the family sit here, and here are +the washbasin and pail (which is filled from the neighboring spring- +house), and the row of milk-pans. The old man Tatern did not welcome +us with enthusiasm; he had no corn,--these were hard times. He +looked like hard times, grizzled times, dirty times. It seemed time +out of mind since he had seen comb or razor, and although the lovely +New River, along which we had ridden to his house,--a broad, inviting +stream,--was in sight across the meadow, there was no evidence that +he had ever made acquaintance with its cleansing waters. As to corn, +the necessities of the case and pay being dwelt on, perhaps he could +find a dozen ears. A dozen small cars he did find, and we trust that +the horses found them. + +We took a family dinner with old man Tatern in the kitchen, where +there was a bed and a stove,--a meal that the host seemed to enjoy, +but which we could not make much of, except the milk; that was good. +A painful meal, on the whole, owing to the presence in the room of a +grown-up daughter with a graveyard cough, without physician or +medicine, or comforts. Poor girl! just dying of "a misery." + +In the spare room were two beds; the walls were decorated with the +gay-colored pictures of patent-medicine advertisements--a favorite +art adornment of the region; and a pile of ancient illustrated papers +with the usual patent-office report, the thoughtful gift of the +member for the district. The old man takes in the "Blue Ridge +Baptist," a journal which we found largely taken up with the +experiences of its editor on his journeys roundabout in search of +subscribers. This newspaper was the sole communication of the family +with the world at large, but the old man thought he should stop it,-- +he did n't seem to get the worth of his money out of it. And old man +Tatem was a thrifty and provident man. On the hearth in this best +room--as ornaments or memento mori were a couple of marble +gravestones, a short headstone and foot-stone, mounted on bases and +ready for use, except the lettering. These may not have been so +mournful and significant as they looked, nor the evidence of simple, +humble faith; they may have been taken for debt. But as parlor +ornaments they had a fascination which we could not escape. + +It was while we were bathing in the New River, that afternoon, and +meditating on the grim, unrelieved sort of life of our host, that the +Professor said, "judging by the face of the 'Blue Ridge Baptist,' he +will charge us smartly for the few nubbins of corn and the milk." +The face did not deceive us; the charge was one dollar. At this rate +it would have broken us to have tarried with old man Tatem (perhaps +he is not old, but that is the name he goes by) over night. + +It was a hot afternoon, and it needed some courage to mount and climb +the sandy hill leading us away from the corn-crib of Tatem. But we +entered almost immediately into fine stretches of forest, and rode +under the shade of great oaks. The way, which began by the New +River, soon led us over the hills to the higher levels of Watauga +County. So far on our journey we had been hemmed in by low hills, +and without any distant or mountain outlooks. The excessive heat +seemed out of place at the elevation of over two thousand feet, on +which we were traveling. Boone, the county seat of Watauga County, +was our destination, and, ever since morning, the guideboards and the +trend of the roads had notified us that everything in this region +tends towards Boone as a center of interest. The simple ingenuity of +some of the guide-boards impressed us. If, on coming to a fork, the +traveler was to turn to the right, the sign read, + + To BOONE 10 M. +If he was to go to the left, it read, + .M 01 ENOOB oT + +A short ride of nine miles, on an ascending road, through an open, +unfenced forest region, brought us long before sundown to this +capital. When we had ridden into its single street, which wanders +over gentle hills, and landed at the most promising of the taverns, +the Friend informed his comrade that Boone was 3250 feet above +Albemarle Sound, and believed by its inhabitants to be the highest +village east of the Rocky Mountains. The Professor said that it +might be so, but it was a God-forsaken place. Its inhabitants +numbered perhaps two hundred and fifty, a few of them colored. It +had a gaunt, shaky court-house and jail, a store or two, and two +taverns. The two taverns are needed to accommodate the judges and +lawyers and their clients during the session of the court. The court +is the only excitement and the only amusement. It is the event from +which other events date. Everybody in the county knows exactly when +court sits, and when court breaks. During the session the whole +county is practically in Boone, men, women, and children. They camp +there, they attend the trials, they take sides; half of them, +perhaps, are witnesses, for the region is litigious, and the +neighborhood quarrels are entered into with spirit. To be fond of +lawsuits seems a characteristic of an isolated people in new +conditions. The early settlers of New England were. + +Notwithstanding the elevation of Boone, which insured a pure air, the +thermometer that afternoon stood at from 85 to 89 deg. The flies +enjoyed it. How they swarmed in this tavern! They would have +carried off all the food from the dining-room table (for flies do not +mind eating off oilcloth, and are not particular how food is cooked), +but for the machine with hanging flappers that swept the length of +it; and they destroy all possibility of sleep except in the dark. +The mountain regions of North Carolina are free from mosquitoes, but +the fly has settled there, and is the universal scourge. This +tavern, one end of which was a store, had a veranda in front, and a +back gallery, where there were evidences of female refinement in pots +of plants and flowers. The landlord himself kept tavern very much as +a hostler would, but we had to make a note in his favor that he had +never heard of a milk punch. And it might as well be said here, for +it will have to be insisted on later, that the traveler, who has read +about the illicit stills till his imagination dwells upon the +indulgence of his vitiated tastes in the mountains of North Carolina, +is doomed to disappointment. If he wants to make himself an +exception to the sober people whose cooking will make him long for +the maddening bowl, he must bring his poison with him. We had found +no bread since we left Virginia; we had seen cornmeal and water, +slack-baked; we had seen potatoes fried in grease, and bacon +incrusted with salt (all thirst-provokers), but nothing to drink +stronger than buttermilk. And we can say that, so far as our example +is concerned, we left the country as temperate as we found it. How +can there be mint juleps (to go into details) without ice? and in the +summer there is probably not a pound of ice in all the State north of +Buncombe County. + +There is nothing special to be said about Boone. We were anxious to +reach it, we were glad to leave it; we note as to all these places +that our joy at departing always exceeds that on arriving, which is a +merciful provision of nature for people who must keep moving. This +country is settled by genuine Americans, who have the aboriginal +primitive traits of the universal Yankee nation. The front porch in +the morning resembled a carpenter's shop; it was literally covered +with the whittlings of the row of natives who had spent the evening +there in the sedative occupation of whittling. + +We took that morning a forest road to Valle Crusis, seven miles, +through noble growths of oaks, chestnuts, hemlocks, rhododendrons,--a +charming wood road, leading to a place that, as usual, did not keep +the promise of its name. Valle Crusis has a blacksmith shop and a +dirty, flyblown store. While the Professor consulted the blacksmith +about a loose shoe, the Friend carried his weariness of life without +provisions up to a white house on the hill, and negotiated for boiled +milk. This house was occupied by flies. They must have numbered +millions, settled in black swarms, covering tables, beds, walls, the +veranda; the kitchen was simply a hive of them. The only book in +sight, Whewell's--"Elements of Morality," seemed to attract flies. +Query, Why should this have such a different effect from Porter's? A +white house,--a pleasant-looking house at a distance,--amiable, +kindly people in it,--why should we have arrived there on its dirty +day? Alas! if we had been starving, Valle Crusis had nothing to +offer us. + +So we rode away, in the blazing heat, no poetry exuding from the +Professor, eight miles to Banner's Elk, crossing a mountain and +passing under Hanging Rock, a conspicuous feature in the landscape, +and the only outcropping of rock we had seen: the face of a ledge, +rounded up into the sky, with a green hood on it. From the summit we +had the first extensive prospect during our journey. The road can be +described as awful,--steep, stony, the horses unable to make two +miles an hour on it. Now and then we encountered a rude log cabin +without barns or outhouses, and a little patch of feeble corn. The +women who regarded the passers from their cabin doors were frowzy and +looked tired. What with the heat and the road and this discouraged +appearance of humanity, we reached the residence of Dugger, at +Banner's Elk, to which we had been directed, nearly exhausted. It is +no use to represent this as a dash across country on impatient +steeds. It was not so. The love of truth is stronger than the +desire of display. And for this reason it is impossible to say that +Mr. Dugger, who is an excellent man, lives in a clean and attractive +house, or that he offers much that the pampered child of civilization +can eat. But we shall not forget the two eggs, fresh from the hens, +whose temperature must have been above the normal, nor the spring- +house in the glen, where we found a refuge from the flies and the +heat. The higher we go, the hotter it is. Banner's Elk boasts an +elevation of thirty-five to thirty-seven hundred feet. + +We were not sorry, towards sunset, to descend along the Elk River +towards Cranberry Forge. The Elk is a lovely stream, and, though not +very clear, has a reputation for trout; but all this region was under +operation of a three-years game law, to give the trout a chance to +multiply, and we had no opportunity to test the value of its +reputation. Yet a boy whom we encountered had a good string of +quarter-pound trout, which he had taken out with a hook and a feather +rudely tied on it, to resemble a fly. The road, though not to be +commended, was much better than that of the morning, the forests grew +charming in the cool of the evening, the whippoorwill sang, and as +night fell the wanderers, in want of nearly everything that makes +life desirable, stopped at the Iron Company's hotel, under the +impression that it was the only comfortable hotel in North Carolina. + + + + +II + +Cranberry Forge is the first wedge of civilization fairly driven into +the northwest mountains of North Carolina. A narrow-gauge railway, +starting from Johnson City, follows up the narrow gorge of the Doe +River, and pushes into the heart of the iron mines at Cranberry, +where there is a blast furnace; and where a big company store, rows +of tenement houses, heaps of slag and refuse ore, interlacing tracks, +raw embankments, denuded hillsides, and a blackened landscape, are +the signs of a great devastating American enterprise. The Cranberry +iron is in great esteem, as it has the peculiar quality of the +Swedish iron. There are remains of old furnaces lower down the +stream, which we passed on our way. The present "plant" is that of a +Philadelphia company, whose enterprise has infused new life into all +this region, made it accessible, and spoiled some pretty scenery. + +When we alighted, weary, at the gate of the pretty hotel, which +crowns a gentle hill and commands a pleasing, evergreen prospect of +many gentle hills, a mile or so below the works, and wholly removed +from all sordid associations, we were at the point of willingness +that the whole country should be devastated by civilization. In the +local imagination this hotel of the company is a palace of unequaled +magnificence, but probably its good taste, comfort, and quiet +elegance are not appreciated after all. There is this to be said +about Philadelphia,--and it will go far in pleading for it in the +Last Day against its monotonous rectangularity and the babel-like +ambition of its Public Building,--that wherever its influence +extends, there will be found comfortable lodgings and the luxury of +an undeniably excellent cuisine. The visible seal that Philadelphia +sets on its enterprise all through the South is a good hotel. + +This Cottage Beautiful has on two sides a wide veranda, set about +with easy chairs; cheerful parlors and pretty chambers, finished in +native woods, among which are conspicuous the satin stripes of the +cucumber-tree; luxurious beds, and an inviting table ordered by a +Philadelphia landlady, who knows a beefsteak from a boot-tap. Is it +"low" to dwell upon these things of the senses, when one is on a tour +in search of the picturesque? Let the reader ride from Abingdon +through a wilderness of cornpone and rusty bacon, and then judge. +There were, to be sure, novels lying about, and newspapers, and +fragments of information to be picked up about a world into which the +travelers seemed to emerge. They, at least, were satisfied, and went +off to their rooms with the restful feeling that they had arrived +somewhere and no unquiet spirit at morn would say "to horse." To +sleep, perchance to dream of Tatem and his household cemetery; and +the Professor was heard muttering in his chamber, + + "Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, + The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; + But then begins a journey in my head, + To work my mind, when body's work's expir'd." + +The morning was warm (the elevation of the hotel must be between +twenty-five hundred and three thousand feet), rainy, mildly rainy; +and the travelers had nothing better to do than lounge upon the +veranda, read feeble ten-cent fictions, and admire the stems of the +white birches, glistening in the moisture, and the rhododendron- +trees, twenty feet high, which were shaking off their last pink +blossoms, and look down into the valley of the Doe. It is not an +exciting landscape, nothing bold or specially wild in it, but restful +with the monotony of some of the wooded Pennsylvania hills. + +Sunday came up smiling, a lovely day, but offering no church +privileges, for the ordinance of preaching is only occasional in this +region. The ladies of the hotel have, however, gathered in the +valley a Sunday-school of fifty children from the mountain cabins. A +couple of rainy days, with the thermometer rising to 80 deg., +combined with natural laziness to detain the travelers in this +cottage of ease. They enjoyed this the more because it was on their +consciences that they should visit Linville Falls, some twenty-five +miles eastward, long held up before them as the most magnificent +feature of this region, and on no account to be omitted. Hence, +naturally, a strong desire to omit it. The Professor takes bold +ground against these abnormal freaks of nature, and it was nothing to +him that the public would demand that we should see Linville Falls. +In the first place, we could find no one who had ever seen them, and +we spent two days in catechizing natives and strangers. The nearest +we came to information was from a workman at the furnace, who was +born and raised within three miles of the Falls. He had heard of +people going there. He had never seen them himself. It was a good +twenty-five miles there, over the worst road in the State we'd think +it thirty before we got there. Fifty miles of such travel to see a +little water run down-hill! The travelers reflected. Every country +has a local waterfall of which it boasts; they had seen a great many. +One more would add little to the experience of life. The vagueness +of information, to be sure, lured the travelers to undertake the +journey; but the temptation was resisted--something ought to be left +for the next explorer--and so Linville remains a thing of the +imagination. + +Towards evening, July 29, between showers, the Professor and the +Friend rode along the narrow-gauge road, down Johnson's Creek, to +Roan Station, the point of departure for ascending Roan Mountain. It +was a ride of an hour and a half over a fair road, fringed with +rhododendrons, nearly blossomless; but at a point on the stream this +sturdy shrub had formed a long bower where under a table might have +been set for a temperance picnic, completely overgrown with wild +grape, and still gay with bloom. The habitations on the way are +mostly board shanties and mean frame cabins, but the railway is +introducing ambitious architecture here and there in the form of +ornamental filigree work on flimsy houses; ornamentation is apt to +precede comfort in our civilization. + +Roan Station is on the Doe River (which flows down from Roan +Mountain), and is marked at 1265 feet above the sea. The visitor +will find here a good hotel, with open wood fires (not ungrateful in +a July evening), and obliging people. This railway from Johnson +City, hanging on the edge of the precipices that wall the gorge of +the Doe, is counted in this region by the inhabitants one of the +engineering wonders of the world. The tourist is urged by all means +to see both it and Linville Falls. + +The tourist on horseback, in search of exercise and recreation, is +not probably expected to take stock of moral conditions. But this +Mitchell County, although it was a Union county during the war and is +Republican in politics (the Southern reader will perhaps prefer +another adverb to "although"), has had the worst possible reputation. +The mountains were hiding-places of illicit distilleries; the woods +were full of grog-shanties, where the inflaming fluid was sold as +"native brandy," quarrels and neighborhood difficulties were +frequent, and the knife and pistol were used on the slightest +provocation. Fights arose about boundaries and the title to mica +mines, and with the revenue officers; and force was the arbiter of +all disputes. Within the year four murders were committed in the +sparsely settled county. Travel on any of the roads was unsafe. The +tone of morals was what might be expected with such lawlessness. A +lady who came up on the road on the 4th of July, when an excursion +party of country people took possession of the cars, witnessed a +scene and heard language past belief. Men, women, and children drank +from whisky bottles that continually circulated, and a wild orgy +resulted. Profanity, indecent talk on topics that even the license +of the sixteenth century would not have tolerated, and freedom of +manners that even Teniers would have shrunk from putting on canvas, +made the journey horrible. + +The unrestrained license of whisky and assault and murder had +produced a reaction a few months previous to our visit. The people +had risen up in their indignation and broken up the groggeries. So +far as we observed temperance prevailed, backed by public-opinion. +In our whole ride through the mountain region we saw only one or two +places where liquor was sold. + +It is called twelve miles from Roan Station to Roan Summit. The +distance is probably nearer fourteen, and our horses were five hours +in walking it. For six miles the road runs by Doe River, here a +pretty brook shaded with laurel and rhododendron, and a few +cultivated patches of ground, and infrequent houses. It was a blithe +morning, and the horsemen would have given full indulgence to the +spirit of adventure but for the attitude of the Professor towards +mountains. It was not with him a matter of feeling, but of +principle, not to ascend them. But here lay Roan, a long, sprawling +ridge, lifting itself 6250 feet up into the sky. Impossible to go +around it, and the other side must be reached. The Professor was +obliged to surrender, and surmount a difficulty which he could not +philosophize out of his mind. + +>From the base of the mountain a road is very well engineered, in easy +grades for carriages, to the top; but it was in poor repair and +stony. We mounted slowly through splendid forests, specially of fine +chestnuts and hemlocks. This big timber continues till within a mile +and a half of the summit by the winding road, really within a short +distance of the top. Then there is a narrow belt of scrubby +hardwood, moss-grown, and then large balsams, which crown the +mountain. As soon as we came out upon the southern slope we found +great open spaces, covered with succulent grass, and giving excellent +pasturage to cattle. These rich mountain meadows are found on all +the heights of this region. The surface of Roan is uneven, and has +no one culminating peak that commands the country, like the peak of +Mount Washington, but several eminences within its range of probably +a mile and a half, where various views can be had. Near the highest +point, sheltered from the north by balsams, stands a house of +entertainment, with a detached cottage, looking across the great +valley to the Black Mountain range. The surface of the mountain is +pebbly, but few rocks crop out; no ledges of any size are seen except +at a distance from the hotel, on the north side, and the mountain +consequently lacks that savage, unsubduable aspect which the White +Hills of New Hampshire have. It would, in fact, have been difficult +to realize that we were over six thousand feet above the sea, except +for that pallor in the sunlight, that atmospheric thinness and want +of color which is an unpleasant characteristic of high altitudes. To +be sure, there is a certain brilliancy in the high air,--it is apt to +be foggy on Roan,--and objects appear in sharp outline, but I have +often experienced on such places that feeling of melancholy, which +would, of course, deepen upon us all if we were sensible that the sun +was gradually withdrawing its power of warmth and light. The black +balsam is neither a cheerful nor a picturesque tree; the frequent +rains and mists on Roan keep the grass and mosses green, but the +ground damp. Doubtless a high mountain covered with vegetation has +its compensation, but for me the naked granite rocks in sun and +shower are more cheerful. + +The advantage of Roan is that one can live there and be occupied for +a long time in mineral and botanical study. Its mild climate, +moisture, and great elevation make it unique in this country for the +botanist. The variety of plants assembled there is very large, and +there are many, we were told, never or rarely found elsewhere in the +United States. At any rate, the botanists rave about Roan Mountain, +and spend weeks at a time on it. We found there ladies who could +draw for us Grey's lily (then passed), and had kept specimens of the +rhododendron (not growing elsewhere in this region) which has a deep +red, almost purple color. + +The hotel (since replaced by a good house) was a rude mountain +structure, with a couple of comfortable rooms for office and sitting- +room, in which big wood fires were blazing; for though the +thermometer might record 60 deg., as it did when we arrived, fire was +welcome. Sleeping-places partitioned off in the loft above gave the +occupants a feeling of camping out, all the conveniences being +primitive; and when the wind rose in the night and darkness, and the +loose boards rattled and the timbers creaked, the sensation was not +unlike that of being at sea. The hotel was satisfactorily kept, and +Southern guests, from as far south as New Orleans, were spending the +season there, and not finding time hang heavy on their hands. This +statement is perhaps worth more than pages of description as to the +character of Roan, and its contrast to Mount Washington. + +The summer weather is exceedingly uncertain on all these North +Carolina mountains; they are apt at any moment to be enveloped in +mist; and it would rather rain on them than not. On the afternoon of +our arrival there was fine air and fair weather, but not a clear sky. +The distance was hazy, but the outlines were preserved. We could see +White Top, in Virginia; Grandfather Mountain, a long serrated range; +the twin towers of Linville; and the entire range of the Black +Mountains, rising from the valley, and apparently lower than we were. +They get the name of Black from the balsams which cover the summits. + +The rain on Roan was of less annoyance by reason of the delightful +company assembled at the hotel, which was in a manner at home there, +and, thrown upon its own resources, came out uncommonly strong in +agreeableness. There was a fiddle in the house, which had some of +the virtues of that celebrated in the history of old Mark Langston; +the Professor was enabled to produce anything desired out of the +literature of the eighteenth century; and what with the repartee of +bright women, big wood fires, reading, and chat, there was no dull +day or evening on Roan. I can fancy, however, that it might tire in +time, if one were not a botanist, without the resource of women's +society. The ladies staying here were probably all accomplished +botanists, and the writer is indebted to one of them for a list of +plants found on Roan, among which is an interesting weed, catalogued +as Humana, perplexia negligens. The species is, however, common +elsewhere. + +The second morning opened, after a night of high wind, with a +thunder-shower. After it passed, the visitors tried to reach Eagle +Cliff, two miles off, whence an extensive western prospect is had, +but were driven back by a tempest, and rain practically occupied the +day. Now and then through the parted clouds we got a glimpse of a +mountain-side, or the gleam of a valley. On the lower mountains, at +wide intervals apart, were isolated settlements, commonly a wretched +cabin and a spot of girdled trees. A clergyman here, not long ago, +undertook to visit some of these cabins and carry his message to +them. In one wretched hut of logs he found a poor woman, with whom, +after conversation on serious subjects, he desired to pray. She +offered no objection, and he kneeled down and prayed. The woman +heard him, and watched him for some moments with curiosity, in an +effort to ascertain what he was doing, and then said: + +"Why, a man did that when he put my girl in a hole." + +Towards night the wind hauled round from the south to the northwest, +and we went to High Bluff, a point on the north edge, where some +rocks are piled up above the evergreens, to get a view of the sunset. +In every direction the mountains were clear, and a view was obtained +of the vast horizon and the hills and lowlands of several States--a +continental prospect, scarcely anywhere else equaled for variety or +distance. The grandeur of mountains depends mostly on the state of +the atmosphere. Grandfather loomed up much more loftily than the day +before, the giant range of the Blacks asserted itself in grim +inaccessibility, and we could see, a small pyramid on the southwest +horizon, King's Mountain in South Carolina, estimated to be distant +one hundred and fifty miles. To the north Roan falls from this point +abruptly, and we had, like a map below us, the low country all the +way into Virginia. The clouds lay like lakes in the valleys of the +lower hills, and in every direction were ranges of mountains wooded +to the summits. Off to the west by south lay the Great Smoky +Mountains, disputing eminence with the Blacks. + +Magnificent and impressive as the spectacle was, we were obliged to +contrast it unfavorably with that of the White Hills. The rock here +is a sort of sand or pudding stone; there is no limestone or granite. +And all the hills are tree-covered. To many this clothing of verdure +is most restful and pleasing. I missed the sharp outlines, the +delicate artistic sky lines, sharply defined in uplifted bare granite +peaks and ridges, with the purple and violet color of the northern +mountains, and which it seems to me that limestone and granite +formations give. There are none of the great gorges and awful +abysses of the White Mountains, both valleys and mountains here being +more uniform in outline. There are few precipices and jutting crags, +and less is visible of the giant ribs and bones of the planet. + +Yet Roan is a noble mountain. A lady from Tennessee asked me if I +had ever seen anything to compare with it--she thought there could be +nothing in the world. One has to dodge this sort of question in the +South occasionally, not to offend a just local pride. It is +certainly one of the most habitable of big mountains. It is roomy on +top, there is space to move about without too great fatigue, and one +might pleasantly spend a season there, if he had agreeable company +and natural tastes. + +Getting down from Roan on the south side is not as easy as ascending +on the north; the road for five miles to the foot of the mountain is +merely a river of pebbles, gullied by the heavy rains, down which the +horses picked their way painfully. The travelers endeavored to +present a dashing and cavalier appearance to the group of ladies who +waved good-by from the hotel, as they took their way over the waste +and wind-blown declivities, but it was only a show, for the horses +would neither caracole nor champ the bit (at a dollar a day) down- +hill over the slippery stones, and, truth to tell, the wanderers +turned with regret from the society of leisure and persiflage to face +the wilderness of Mitchell County. + +"How heavy," exclaimed the Professor, pricking Laura Matilda to call +her attention sharply to her footing + + "How heavy do I journey on the way, + When what I seek--my weary travel's end + Doth teach that ease and that repose to say, + Thus far the miles are measur'd from thy friend! + The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, + Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, + As if by some instinct the wretch did know + His rider loved not speed, being made from thee: + The bloody spur cannot provoke him on + That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, + Which heavily he answers with a groan, + More sharp to me than spurring to his side; + For that same groan doth put this in my mind; + My grief lies onward and my joy behind." + +This was not spoken to the group who fluttered their farewells, but +poured out to the uncomplaining forest, which rose up in ever +statelier--and grander ranks to greet the travelers as they +descended--the silent, vast forest, without note of bird or chip of +squirrel, only the wind tossing the great branches high overhead in +response to the sonnet. Is there any region or circumstance of life +that the poet did not forecast and provide for? But what would have +been his feelings if he could have known that almost three centuries +after these lines were penned, they would be used to express the +emotion of an unsentimental traveler in the primeval forests of the +New World? At any rate, he peopled the New World with the children +of his imagination. And, thought the Friend, whose attention to his +horse did not permit him to drop into poetry, Shakespeare might have +had a vision of this vast continent, though he did not refer to it, +when he exclaimed: + + "What is your substance, whereof are you made, + That millions of strange shadows on you tend?" + +Bakersville, the capital of Mitchell County, is eight miles from the +top of Roan, and the last three miles of the way the horsemen found +tolerable going, over which the horses could show their paces. The +valley looked fairly thrifty and bright, and was a pleasing +introduction to Bakersville, a pretty place in the hills, of some six +hundred inhabitants, with two churches, three indifferent hotels, and +a court-house. This mountain town, 2550 feet above the sea, is said +to have a decent winter climate, with little snow, favorable to +fruit-growing, and, by contrast with New England, encouraging to +people with weak lungs. + +This is the center of the mica mining, and of considerable excitement +about minerals. All around, the hills are spotted with "diggings." +Most of the mines which yield well show signs of having been worked +before, a very long time ago, no doubt by the occupants before the +Indians. The mica is of excellent quality and easily mined. It is +got out in large irregular-shaped blocks and transported to the +factories, where it is carefully split by hand, and the laminae, of +as large size as can be obtained, are trimmed with shears and tied up +in packages for market. The quantity of refuse, broken, and rotten +mica piled up about the factories is immense, and all the roads round +about glisten with its scales. Garnets are often found imbedded in +the laminae, flattened by the extreme pressure to which the mass was +subjected. It is fascinating material, this mica, to handle, and we +amused ourselves by experimenting on the thinness to which its scales +could be reduced by splitting. It was at Bakersville that we saw +specimens of mica that resembled the delicate tracery in the moss- +agate and had the iridescent sheen of the rainbow colors--the most +delicate greens, reds, blues, purples, and gold, changing from one to +the other in the reflected light. In the texture were the tracings +of fossil forms of ferns and the most exquisite and delicate +vegetable beauty of the coal age. But the magnet shows this tracery +to be iron. We were shown also emeralds and "diamonds," picked up in +this region, and there is a mild expectation in all the inhabitants +of great mineral treasure. A singular product of the region is the +flexible sandstone. It is a most uncanny stone. A slip of it a +couple of feet long and an inch in diameter each way bends in the +hand like a half-frozen snake. This conduct of a substance that we +have been taught to regard as inflexible impairs one's confidence in +the stability of nature and affects him as an earthquake does. + +This excitement over mica and other minerals has the usual effect of +starting up business and creating bad blood. Fortunes have been +made, and lost in riotous living; scores of visionary men have been +disappointed; lawsuits about titles and claims have multiplied, and +quarrels ending in murder have been frequent in the past few years. +The mica and the illicit whisky have worked together to make this +region one of lawlessness and violence. The travelers were told +stories of the lack of common morality and decency in the region, but +they made no note of them. And, perhaps fortunately, they were not +there during court week to witness the scenes of license that were +described. This court week, which draws hither the whole population, +is a sort of Saturnalia. Perhaps the worst of this is already a +thing of the past; for the outrages a year before had reached such a +pass that by a common movement the sale of whisky was stopped (not +interdicted, but stopped), and not a drop of liquor could be bought +in Bakersville nor within three miles of it. + +The jail at Bakersville is a very simple residence. The main +building is brick, two stories high and about twelve feet square. +The walls are so loosely laid up that it seems as if a colored +prisoner might butt his head through. Attached to this is a room for +the jailer. In the lower room is a wooden cage, made of logs bolted +together and filled with spikes, nine feet by ten feet square and +perhaps seven or eight feet high. Between this cage and the wall is +a space of eighteen inches in width. It has a narrow door, and an +opening through which the food is passed to the prisoners, and a +conduit leading out of it. Of course it soon becomes foul, and in +warm weather somewhat warm. A recent prisoner, who wanted more +ventilation than the State allowed him, found some means, by a loose +plank, I think, to batter a hole in the outer wall opposite the +window in the cage, and this ragged opening, seeming to the jailer a +good sanitary arrangement, remains. Two murderers occupied this +apartment at the time of our visit. During the recent session of +court, ten men had been confined in this narrow space, without room +enough for them to lie down together. The cage in the room above, a +little larger, had for tenant a person who was jailed for some +misunderstanding about an account, and who was probably innocent-- +from the jailer's statement. This box is a wretched residence, month +after month, while awaiting trial. + +We learned on inquiry that it is practically impossible to get a jury +to convict of murder in this region, and that these admitted felons +would undoubtedly escape. We even heard that juries were purchasable +here, and that a man's success in court depended upon the length of +his purse. This is such an unheard-of thing that we refused to +credit it. When the Friend attempted to arouse the indignation of +the Professor about the barbarity of this jail, the latter defended +it on the ground that as confinement was the only punishment that +murderers were likely to receive in this region, it was well to make +their detention disagreeable to them. But the Friend did not like +this wild-beast cage for men, and could only exclaim, + +"Oh, murder! what crimes are done in thy name." + +If the comrades wished an adventure, they had a small one, more +interesting to them than to the public, the morning they left +Bakersville to ride to Burnsville, which sets itself up as the +capital of Yancey. The way for the first three miles lay down a +small creek and in a valley fairly settled, the houses, a store, and +a grist-mill giving evidence of the new enterprise of the region. +When Toe River was reached, there was a choice of routes. We might +ford the Toe at that point, where the river was wide, but shallow, +and the crossing safe, and climb over the mountain by a rough but +sightly road, or descend the stream by a better road and ford the +river at a place rather dangerous to those unfamiliar with it. The +danger attracted us, but we promptly chose the hill road on account +of the views, for we were weary of the limited valley prospects. + +The Toe River, even here, where it bears westward, is a very +respectable stream in size, and not to be trifled with after a +shower. It gradually turns northward, and, joining the Nollechucky, +becomes part of the Tennessee system. We crossed it by a long, +diagonal ford, slipping and sliding about on the round stones, and +began the ascent of a steep hill. The sun beat down unmercifully, +the way was stony, and the horses did not relish the weary climbing. +The Professor, who led the way, not for the sake of leadership, but +to be the discoverer of laden blackberry bushes, which began to offer +occasional refreshment, discouraged by the inhospitable road and +perhaps oppressed by the moral backwardness of things in general, +cried out: + + "Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,-- + As, to behold desert a beggar born, + And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, + And purest faith unhappily foresworn, + And gilded honor shamefully misplaced, + And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, + And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, + And strength by limping sway disabled, + And art made tongue-tied by authority, + And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, + And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, + And captive good attending captain ill: + Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, + Save that, to die, I leave my love alone." + +In the midst of a lively discussion of this pessimistic view of the +inequalities of life, in which desert and capacity are so often put +at disadvantage by birth in beggarly conditions, and brazen +assumption raises the dust from its chariot wheels for modest merit +to plod along in, the Professor swung himself off his horse to attack +a blackberry bush, and the Friend, representing simple truth, and +desirous of getting a wider prospect, urged his horse up the hill. +At the top he encountered a stranger, on a sorrel horse, with whom he +entered into conversation and extracted all the discouragement the +man had as to the road to Burnsville. + +Nevertheless, the view opened finely and extensively. There are few +exhilarations comparable to that of riding or walking along a high +ridge, and the spirits of the traveler rose many degrees above the +point of restful death, for which the Professor was crying when he +encountered the blackberry bushes. Luckily the Friend soon fell in +with a like temptation, and dismounted. He discovered something that +spoiled his appetite for berries. His coat, strapped on behind the +saddle, had worked loose, the pocket was open, and the pocket-book +was gone. This was serious business. For while the Professor was +the cashier, and traveled like a Rothschild, with large drafts, the +Friend represented the sub-treasury. That very morning, in response +to inquiry as to the sinews of travel, the Friend had displayed, +without counting, a roll of bills. These bills had now disappeared, +and when the Friend turned back to communicate his loss, in the +character of needy nothing not trimm'd in jollity, he had a +sympathetic listener to the tale of woe. + +Going back on such a journey is the woefulest experience, but retrace +our steps we must. Perhaps the pocket-book lay in the road not half +a mile back. But not in half a mile, or a mile, was it found. +Probably, then, the man on the sorrel horse had picked it up. But +who was the man on the sorrel horse, and where had he gone? Probably +the coat worked loose in crossing Toe River and the pocket-book had +gone down-stream. The number of probabilities was infinite, and each +more plausible than the others as it occurred to us. We inquired at +every house we had passed on the way, we questioned every one we met. +At length it began to seem improbable that any one would remember if +he had picked up a pocketbook that morning. This is just the sort of +thing that slips an untrained memory. + +At a post office or doctor's shop, or inn for drovers, it might be +either or neither, where several horses were tied to the fence, and +a group of men were tilted back in cane chairs on the veranda, we +unfolded our misfortune and made particular inquiries for a man on a +sorrel horse. Yes, such a man, David Thomas by name, had just ridden +towards Bakersville. If he had found the pocket-book, we would +recover it. He was an honest man. It might, however, fall into +hands that would freeze to it. + +Upon consultation, it was the general verdict that there were men in +the county who would keep it if they had picked it up. But the +assembly manifested the liveliest interest in the incident. One +suggested Toe River. Another thought it risky to drop a purse on any +road. But there was a chorus of desire expressed that we should find +it, and in this anxiety was exhibited a decided sensitiveness about +the honor of Mitchell County. It seemed too bad that a stranger +should go away with the impression that it was not safe to leave +money anywhere in it. We felt very much obliged for this genuine +sympathy, and we told them that if a pocket-book were lost in this +way on a Connecticut road, there would be felt no neighborhood +responsibility for it, and that nobody would take any interest in the +incident except the man who lost, and the man who found. + +By the time the travelers pulled up at a store in Bakersville they +had lost all expectation of recovering the missing article, and were +discussing the investment of more money in an advertisement in the +weekly newspaper of the capital. The Professor, whose reform +sentiments agreed with those of the newspaper, advised it. There was +a group of idlers, mica acquaintances of the morning, and +philosophers in front of the store, and the Friend opened the +colloquy by asking if a man named David Thomas had been seen in town. +He was in town, had ridden in within an hour, and his brother, who +was in the group, would go in search of him. The information was +then given of the loss, and that the rider had met David Thomas just +before it was discovered, on the mountain beyond the Toe. The news +made a sensation, and by the time David Thomas appeared a crowd of a +hundred had drawn around the horsemen eager for further developments. +Mr. Thomas was the least excited of the group as he took his position +on the sidewalk, conscious of the dignity of the occasion and that he +was about to begin a duel in which both reputation and profit were +concerned. He recollected meeting the travelers in the morning. + +The Friend said, "I discovered that I had lost my purse just after +meeting you; it may have been dropped in Toe River, but I was told +back here that if David Thomas had picked it up, it was as safe as if +it were in the bank." + +"What sort of a pocket-book was it?" asked Mr. Thomas. + +"It was of crocodile skin, or what is sold for that, very likely it +is an imitation, and about so large indicating the size." + +"What had it in it?" + +"Various things. Some specimens of mica; some bank checks, some +money." + +"Anything else?" + +"Yes, a photograph. And, oh, something that I presume is not in +another pocket-book in North Carolina,--in an envelope, a lock of the +hair of George Washington, the Father of his Country." Sensation +mixed with incredulity. Washington's hair did seem such an odd part +of an outfit for a journey of this kind. + +"How much money was in it?" + +"That I cannot say, exactly. I happen to remember four twenty-dollar +United States notes, and a roll of small bills, perhaps something +over a hundred dollars." + +"Is that the pocket-book?" asked David Thomas, slowly pulling the +loved and lost out of his trousers pocket. + +"It is." + +"You'd be willing to take your oath on it?" + +"I should be delighted to." + +"Well, I guess there ain't so much money in it. You can count it +[handing it over]; there hain't been nothing taken out. I can't +read, but my friend here counted it over, and he says there ain't as +much as that." + +Intense interest in the result of the counting. One hundred and ten +dollars! The Friend selected one of the best engraved of the notes, +and appealed to the crowd if they thought that was the square thing +to do. They did so think, and David Thomas said it was abundant. +And then said the Friend: + +"I'm exceedingly grateful to you besides. Washington's hair is +getting scarce, and I did not want to lose these few hairs, gray as +they are. You've done the honest thing, Mr. Thomas, as was expected +of you. You might have kept the whole. But I reckon if there had +been five hundred dollars in the book and you had kept it, it +wouldn't have done you half as much good as giving it up has done; +and your reputation as an honest man is worth a good deal more than +this pocket-book. [The Professor was delighted with this sentiment, +because it reminded him of a Sunday-school.] I shall go away with a +high opinion of the honesty of Mitchell County." + +"Oh, he lives in Yancey," cried two or three voices. At which there +was a great laugh. + +"Well, I wondered where he came from." And the Mitchell County +people laughed again at their own expense, and the levee broke up. +It was exceedingly gratifying, as we spread the news of the recovered +property that afternoon at every house on our way to the Toe, to see +what pleasure it gave. Every man appeared to feel that the honor of +the region had been on trial--and had stood the test. + +The eighteen miles to Burnsville had now to be added to the morning +excursion, but the travelers were in high spirits, feeling the truth +of the adage that it is better to have loved and lost, than never to +have lost at all. They decided, on reflection, to join company with +the mail-rider, who was going to Burnsville by the shorter route, and +could pilot them over the dangerous ford of the Toe. + +The mail-rider was a lean, sallow, sinewy man, mounted on a sorry +sorrel nag, who proved, however, to have blood in her, and to be a +fast walker and full of endurance. The mail-rider was taciturn, a +natural habit for a man who rides alone the year round, over a lonely +road, and has nothing whatever to think of. He had been in the war +sixteen months, in Hugh White's regiment,--reckon you've heerd of +him? + +"Confederate?" + +"Which?" + +"Was he on the Union or Confederate side?" + +"Oh, Union." + +"Were you in any engagements?" + +"Which?" + +"Did you have any fighting?" + +"Not reg'lar." + +"What did you do?" + +"Which?" + +"What did you do in Hugh White's regiment?" + +"Oh, just cavorted round the mountains." + +"You lived on the country?" + +"Which?" + +"Picked up what you could find, corn, bacon, horses?" + +"That's about so. Did n't make much difference which side was round, +the country got cleaned out." + +"Plunder seems to have been the object?" + +"Which?" + +"You got a living out of the farmers?" + +"You bet." + +Our friend and guide seemed to have been a jayhawker and mountain +marauder--on the right side. His attachment to the word "which" +prevented any lively flow of conversation, and there seemed to be +only two trains of ideas running in his mind: one was the subject of +horses and saddles, and the other was the danger of the ford we were +coming to, and he exhibited a good deal of ingenuity in endeavoring +to excite our alarm. He returned to the ford from every other +conversational excursion, and after every silence. + +"I do' know's there 's any great danger; not if you know the ford. +Folks is carried away there. The Toe gits up sudden. There's been +right smart rain lately. + +"If you're afraid, you can git set over in a dugout, and I'll take +your horses across. Mebbe you're used to fording? It's a pretty bad +ford for them as don't know it. But you'll get along if you mind +your eye. There's some rocks you'll have to look out for. But +you'll be all right if you follow me." + +Not being very successful in raising an interest in the dangers of +his ford, although he could not forego indulging a malicious pleasure +in trying to make the strangers uncomfortable, he finally turned his +attention to a trade. "This hoss of mine," he said, "is just the +kind of brute-beast you want for this country. Your hosses is too +heavy. How'll you swap for that one o' yourn?" The reiterated +assertion that the horses were not ours, that they were hired, made +little impression on him. All the way to Burnsville he kept +referring to the subject of a trade. The instinct of "swap" was +strong in him. When we met a yoke of steers, he turned round and +bantered the owner for a trade. Our saddles took his fancy. They +were of the army pattern, and he allowed that one of them would just +suit him. He rode a small flat English pad, across which was flung +the United States mail pouch, apparently empty. He dwelt upon the +fact that his saddle was new and ours were old, and the advantages +that would accrue to us from the exchange. He did n't care if they +had been through the war, as they had, for he fancied an army saddle. +The Friend answered for himself that the saddle he rode belonged to a +distinguished Union general, and had a bullet in it that was put +there by a careless Confederate in the first battle of Bull Run, and +the owner would not part with it for money. But the mail-rider said +he did n't mind that. He would n't mind swapping his new saddle for +my old one and the rubber coat and leggings. Long before we reached +the ford we thought we would like to swap the guide, even at the, +risk of drowning. The ford was passed, in due time, with no +inconvenience save that of wet feet, for the stream was breast high +to the horses; but being broad and swift and full of sunken rocks and +slippery stones, and the crossing tortuous, it is not a ford to be +commended. There is a curious delusion that a rider has in crossing +a swift broad stream. It is that he is rapidly drifting up-stream, +while in fact the tendency of the horse is to go with the current. + +The road in the afternoon was not unpicturesque, owing to the streams +and the ever noble forests, but the prospect was always very limited. +Agriculturally, the country was mostly undeveloped. The travelers +endeavored to get from the rider an estimate of the price of land. +Not much sold, he said. "There was one sale of a big piece last +year; the owner enthorited Big Tom Wilson to sell it, but I d'know +what he got for it," + +All the way along, the habitations were small log cabins, with one +room, chinked with mud, and these were far between; and only +occasionally thereby a similar log structure, unchinked, laid up like +a cob house, that served for a stable. Not much cultivation, except +now and then a little patch of poor corn on a steep hillside, +occasionally a few apple-trees, and a peach-tree without fruit. Here +and there was a house that had been half finished and then abandoned, +or a shanty in which a couple of young married people were just +beginning life. Generally the cabins (confirming the accuracy of the +census of 1880) swarmed with children, and nearly all the women were +thin and sickly. + +In the day's ride we did not see a wheeled vehicle, and only now and +then a horse. We met on the road small sleds, drawn by a steer, +sometimes by a cow, on which a bag of grist was being hauled to the +mill, and boys mounted on steers gave us good-evening with as much +pride as if they were bestriding fiery horses. + +In a house of the better class, which was a post-house, and where the +rider and the woman of the house had a long consultation over a +letter to be registered, we found the rooms decorated with patent- +medicine pictures, which were often framed in strips of mica, an +evidence of culture that was worth noting. Mica was the rage. Every +one with whom we talked, except the rider, had more or less the +mineral fever. The impression was general that the mountain region +of North Carolina was entering upon a career of wonderful mineral +development, and the most extravagant expectations were entertained. +Mica was the shining object of most "prospecting," but gold was also +on the cards. + +The country about Burnsville is not only mildly picturesque, but very +pleasing. Burnsville, the county-seat of Yancey, at an elevation of +2840 feet, is more like a New England village than any hitherto seen. +Most of the houses stand about a square, which contains the shabby +court-house; around it are two small churches, a jail, an inviting +tavern) with a long veranda, and a couple of stores. On an +overlooking hill is the seminary. Mica mining is the exciting +industry, but it is agriculturally a good country. The tavern had +recently been enlarged to meet the new demands for entertainment and +is a roomy structure, fresh with paint and only partially organized. +The travelers were much impressed with the brilliant chambers, the +floors of which were painted in alternate stripes of vivid green and +red. The proprietor, a very intelligent and enterprising man, who +had traveled often in the North, was full of projects for the +development of his region and foremost in its enterprises, and had +formed a considerable collection of minerals. Besides, more than any +one else we met, he appreciated the beauty of his country, and took +us to a neighboring hill, where we had a view of Table Mountain to +the east and the nearer giant Blacks. The elevation of Burnsville +gives it a delightful summer climate, the gentle undulations of the +country are agreeable, the views noble, the air is good, and it is +altogether a "livable" and attractive place. With facilities of +communication, it would be a favorite summer resort. Its nearness to +the great mountains (the whole Black range is in Yancey County), its +fine pure air, its opportunity for fishing and hunting, commend it to +those in search of an interesting and restful retreat in summer. + +But it should be said that before the country can attract and retain +travelers, its inhabitants must learn something about the preparation +of food. If, for instance, the landlord's wife at Burnsville had +traveled with her husband, her table would probably have been more on +a level with his knowledge of the world, and it would have contained +something that the wayfaring man, though a Northerner, could eat. We +have been on the point several times in this journey of making the +observation, but have been restrained by a reluctance to touch upon +politics, that it was no wonder that a people with such a cuisine +should have rebelled. The travelers were in a rebellious mood most +of the time. + +The evidences of enterprise in this region were pleasant to see, but +the observers could not but regret, after all, the intrusion of the +money-making spirit, which is certain to destroy much of the present +simplicity. It is as yet, to a degree, tempered by a philosophic +spirit. The other guest of the house was a sedate, long-bearded +traveler for some Philadelphia house, and in the evening he and the +landlord fell into a conversation upon what Socrates calls the +disadvantage of the pursuit of wealth to the exclusion of all noble +objects, and they let their fancy play about Vanderbilt, who was +agreed to be the richest man in the world, or that ever lived. + +"All I want," said the long-bearded man, "is enough to be +comfortable. I would n't have Vanderbilt's wealth if he'd give it to +me." + +"Nor I," said the landlord. "Give me just enough to be comfortable." +[The tourist couldn't but note that his ideas of enough to be +comfortable had changed a good deal since he had left his little farm +and gone into the mica business, and visited New York, and enlarged +and painted his tavern.] I should like to know what more Vanderbilt +gets out of his money than I get out of mine. I heard tell of a +young man who went to Vanderbilt to get employment. Vanderbilt +finally offered to give the young man, if he would work for him, just +what he got himself. The young man jumped at that--he'd be perfectly +satisfied with that pay. And Vanderbilt said that all he got was +what he could eat and wear, and offered to give the young man his +board and clothes." + +"I declare" said the long-bearded man. "That's just it. Did you +ever see Vanderbilt's house? Neither did I, but I heard he had a +vault built in it five feet thick, solid. He put in it two hundred +millions of dollars, in gold. After a year, he opened it and put in +twelve millions more, and called that a poor year. They say his +house has gold shutters to the windows, so I've heard." + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the landlord. "I heard he had one door in +his house cost forty thousand dollars. I don't know what it is made +of, unless it's made of gold." + +Sunday was a hot and quiet day. The stores were closed and the two +churches also, this not being the Sunday for the itinerant preacher. +The jail also showed no sign of life, and when we asked about it, we +learned that it was empty, and had been for some time. No liquor is +sold in the place, nor within at least three miles of it. It is not +much use to try to run a jail without liquor. + +In the course of the morning a couple of stout fellows arrived, +leading between them a young man whom they had arrested,--it didn't +appear on any warrant, but they wanted to get him committed and +locked up. The offense charged was carrying a pistol; the boy had +not used it against anybody, but he had flourished it about and +threatened, and the neighbors wouldn't stand that; they were bound to +enforce the law against carrying concealed weapons. + +The captors were perfectly good-natured and on friendly enough terms +with the young man, who offered no resistance, and seemed not +unwilling to go to jail. But a practical difficulty arose. The jail +was locked up, the sheriff had gone away into the country with the +key, and no one could get in. It did not appear that there was any +provision for boarding the man in jail; no one in fact kept it. The +sheriff was sent for, but was not to be found, and the prisoner and +his captors loafed about the square all day, sitting on the fence, +rolling on the grass, all of them sustained by a simple trust that +the jail would be open some time. + +Late in the afternoon we left them there, trying to get into the +jail. But we took a personal leaf out of this experience. Our +Virginia friends, solicitous for our safety in this wild country, had +urged us not to venture into it without arms--take at least, they +insisted, a revolver each. And now we had to congratulate ourselves +that we had not done so. If we had, we should doubtless on that +Sunday have been waiting, with the other law-breaker, for admission +into the Yancey County jail. + + + + +III + +>From Burnsville the next point in our route was Asheville, the most +considerable city in western North Carolina, a resort of fashion, and +the capital of Buncombe County. It is distant some forty to forty- +five miles, too long a journey for one day over such roads. The +easier and common route is by the Ford of Big Ivy, eighteen miles, +the first stopping-place; and that was a long ride for the late +afternoon when we were in condition to move. + +The landlord suggested that we take another route, stay that night on +Caney River with Big Tom Wilson, only eight miles from Burnsville, +cross Mount Mitchell, and go down the valley of the Swannanoa to +Asheville. He represented this route as shorter and infinitely more +picturesque. There was nothing worth seeing on the Big Ivy way. +With scarcely a moment's reflection and while the horses were +saddling, we decided to ride to Big Tom Wilson's. I could not at the +time understand, and I cannot now, why the Professor consented. I +should hardly dare yet confess to my fixed purpose to ascend Mount +Mitchell. It was equally fixed in the Professor's mind not to do it. +We had not discussed it much. But it is safe to say that if he had +one well-defined purpose on this trip, it was not to climb Mitchell. +"Not," as he put it,-- + + "Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul + Of the wide world dreaming on things to come," + +had suggested the possibility that he could do it. + +But at the moment the easiest thing to do seemed to be to ride down +to Wilson's. When there we could turn across country to the Big Ivy, +although, said the landlord, you can ride over Mitchell just as easy +as anywhere--a lady rode plump over the peak of it last week, and +never got off her horse. You are not obliged to go; at Big Tom's, +you can go any way you please. + +Besides, Big Tom himself weighed in the scale more than Mount +Mitchell, and not to see him was to miss one of the most +characteristic productions of the country, the typical backwoodsman, +hunter, guide. So we rode down Bolling Creek, through a pretty, +broken country, crossed the Caney River, and followed it up a few +miles to Wilson's plantation. There are little intervales along the +river, where hay is cut and corn grown, but the region is not much +cleared, and the stock browse about in the forest. Wilson is the +agent of the New York owner of a tract of some thirteen thousand +acres of forest, including the greater portion of Mount Mitchell, a +wilderness well stocked with bears and deer, and full of streams +abounding in trout. It is also the playground of the rattlesnake. +With all these attractions Big Tom's life is made lively in watching +game poachers, and endeavoring to keep out the foraging cattle of the +few neighbors. It is not that the cattle do much injury in the +forest, but the looking after them is made a pretense for roaming +around, and the roamers are liable to have to defend themselves +against the deer, or their curiosity is excited about the bears, and +lately they have taken to exploding powder in the streams to kill the +fish. + +Big Tom's plantation has an openwork stable, an ill-put-together +frame house, with two rooms and a kitchen, and a veranda in front, a +loft, and a spring-house in the rear. Chickens and other animals +have free run of the premises. Some fish-rods hung in the porch, and +hunter's gear depended on hooks in the passage-way to the kitchen. +In one room were three beds, in the other two, only one in the +kitchen. On the porch was a loom, with a piece of cloth in process. +The establishment had the air of taking care of itself. Neither Big +Tom nor his wife was at home. Sunday seemed to be a visiting day, +and the travelers had met many parties on horseback. Mrs. Wilson +was away for a visit of a day or two. One of the sons, who was +lounging on the veranda, was at last induced to put up the horses; a +very old woman, who mumbled and glared at the visitors, was found in +the kitchen, but no intelligible response could be got out of her. +Presently a bright little girl, the housekeeper in charge, appeared. +She said that her paw had gone up to her brother's (her brother was +just married and lived up the river in the house where Mr. Murchison +stayed when he was here) to see if he could ketch a bear that had +been rootin' round in the corn-field the night before. She expected +him back by sundown--by dark anyway. 'Les he'd gone after the bear, +and then you could n't tell when he would come. + +It appeared that Big Tom was a thriving man in the matter of family. +More boys appeared. Only one was married, but four had "got their +time." As night approached, and no Wilson, there was a good deal of +lively and loud conversation about the stock and the chores, in all +of which the girl took a leading and intelligent part, showing a +willingness to do her share, but not to have all the work put upon +her. It was time to go down the road and hunt up the cows; the mule +had disappeared and must be found before dark; a couple of steers +hadn't turned up since the day before yesterday, and in the midst of +the gentle contention as to whose business all this was, there was an +alarm of cattle in the corn-patch, and the girl started off on a run +in that direction. It was due to the executive ability of this small +girl, after the cows had been milked and the mule chased and the boys +properly stirred up, that we had supper. It was of the oilcloth, +iron fork, tin spoon, bacon, hot bread and honey variety, +distinguished, however, from all meals we had endured or enjoyed +before by the introduction of fried eggs (as the breakfast next +morning was by the presence of chicken), and it was served by the +active maid with right hearty good-will and genuine hospitable +intent. + +While it was in progress, after nine o'clock, Big Tom arrived, and, +with a simple greeting, sat down and attacked the supper and began to +tell about the bear. There was not much to tell except that he +hadn't seen the bear, and that, judged by his tracks and his sloshing +around, he must be a big one. But a trap had been set for him, and +he judged it wouldn't be long before we had some bear meat. Big Tom +Wilson, as he is known all over this part of the State, would not +attract attention from his size. He is six feet and two inches tall, +very spare and muscular, with sandy hair, long gray beard, and honest +blue eyes. He has a reputation for great strength and endurance; a +man of native simplicity and mild manners. He had been rather +expecting us from what Mr. Murchison wrote; he wrote (his son had +read out the letter) that Big Tom was to take good care of us, and +anybody that Mr. Murchison sent could have the best he'd got. + +Big Tom joined us in our room after supper. This apartment, with two +mighty feather-beds, was hung about with all manner of stuffy family +clothes, and had in one end a vast cavern for a fire. The floor was +uneven, and the hearthstones billowy. When the fire was lighted, the +effect of the bright light in the cavern and the heavy shadows in the +room was Rembrandtish. Big Tom sat with us before the fire and told +bear stories. Talk? Why, it was not the least effort. The stream +flowed on without a ripple. "Why, the old man," one of the sons +confided to us next morning, "can begin and talk right over Mount +Mitchell and all the way back, and never make a break." Though Big +Tom had waged a lifelong warfare with the bears, and taken the hide +off at least a hundred of them, I could not see that he had any +vindictive feeling towards the varmint, but simply an insatiable love +of killing him, and he regarded him in that half-humorous light in +which the bear always appears to those who study him. As to deer--he +couldn't tell how many of them he had slain. But Big Tom was a +gentleman: he never killed deer for mere sport. With rattlesnakes, +now, it was different. There was the skin of one hanging upon a tree +by the route we would take in the morning, a buster, he skinned him +yesterday. There was an entire absence, of braggadocio in Big Tom's +talk, but somehow, as he went on, his backwoods figure loomed larger +and larger in our imagination, and he seemed strangely familiar. At +length it came over us where we had met him before. It was in +Cooper's novels. He was the Leather-Stocking exactly. And yet he +was an original; for he assured us that he had never read the +Leather-Stocking Tales. What a figure, I was thinking, he must have +made in the late war! Such a shot, such a splendid physique, such +iron endurance! I almost dreaded to hear his tales of the havoc he +had wrought on the Union army. Yes, he was in the war, he was +sixteen months in the Confederate army, this Homeric man. In what +rank?" Oh, I was a fifer!" + +But hunting and war did not by any means occupy the whole of Big +Tom's life. He was also engaged in "lawin'." He had a long-time +feud with a neighbor about a piece of land and alleged trespass, and +they'd been "lawin'" for years, with no definite result; but as a +topic of conversation it was as fully illustrative of frontier life +as the bear-fighting. + +Long after we had all gone to bed, we heard Big Tom's continuous +voice, through the thin partition that separated us from the kitchen, +going on to his little boy about the bear; every circumstance of how +he tracked him, and what corner of the field he entered, and where he +went out, and his probable size and age, and the prospect of his +coming again; these were the details of real everyday life, and +worthy to be dwelt on by the hour. The boy was never tired of +pursuing them. And Big Tom was just a big boy, also, in his delight +in it all. + +Perhaps it was the fascination of Big Tom, perhaps the representation +that we were already way off the Big Ivy route, and that it would, in +fact, save time to go over the mountain and we could ride all the +way, that made the Professor acquiesce, with no protest worth +noticing, in the preparations that went on, as by a natural +assumption, for going over Mitchell. At any rate, there was an early +breakfast, luncheon was put up, and by half-past seven we were riding +up the Caney,--a half-cloudy day,--Big Tom swinging along on foot +ahead, talking nineteen to the dozen. There was a delightful +freshness in the air, the dew-laden bushes, and the smell of the +forest. In half an hour we called at the hunting shanty of Mr. +Murchison, wrote our names on the wall, according to custom, and +regretted that we could not stay for a day in that retreat and try +the speckled trout. Making our way through the low growth and bushes +of the valley, we came into a fine open forest, watered by a noisy +brook, and after an hour's easy going reached the serious ascent. + +>From Wilson's to the peak of Mitchell it is seven and a half miles; +we made it in five and a half hours. A bridle path was cut years +ago, but it has been entirely neglected. It is badly washed, it is +stony, muddy, and great trees have fallen across it which wholly +block the way for horses. At these places long detours were +necessary, on steep hillsides and through gullies, over treacherous +sink-holes in the rocks, through quaggy places, heaps of brush, and +rotten logs. Those who have ever attempted to get horses over such +ground will not wonder at the slow progress we made. Before we were +halfway up the ascent, we realized the folly of attempting it on +horseback; but then to go on seemed as easy as to go back. The way +was also exceedingly steep in places, and what with roots, and logs, +and slippery rocks and stones, it was a desperate climb for the +horses. + +What a magnificent forest! Oaks, chestnuts, Poplars, hemlocks, the +cucumber (a species of magnolia, with a pinkish, cucumber-like cone), +and all sorts of northern and southern growths meeting here in +splendid array. And this gigantic forest, with little diminution in +size of trees, continued two thirds of the way up. We marked, as we +went on, the maple, the black walnut, the buckeye, the hickory, the +locust, and the guide pointed out in one section the largest cherry- +trees we had ever seen; splendid trunks, each worth a large sum if it +could be got to market. After the great trees were left behind, we +entered a garden of white birches, and then a plateau of swamp, thick +with raspberry bushes, and finally the ridges, densely crowded with +the funereal black balsam. + +Halfway up, Big Tom showed us his favorite, the biggest tree he knew. +It was a poplar, or tulip. It stands more like a column than a tree, +rising high into the air, with scarcely a perceptible taper, perhaps +sixty, more likely a hundred, feet before it puts out a limb. + +Its girth six feet from the ground is thirty-two feet! I think it +might be called Big Tom. It stood here, of course, a giant, when +Columbus sailed from Spain, and perhaps some sentimental traveler +will attach the name of Columbus to it. + +In the woods there was not much sign of animal life, scarcely the +note of a bird, but we noticed as we rode along in the otherwise +primeval silence a loud and continuous humming overhead, almost like +the sound of the wind in pine tops. It was the humming of bees! The +upper branches were alive with these industrious toilers, and Big Tom +was always on the alert to discover and mark a bee-gum, which he +could visit afterwards. Honey hunting is one of his occupations. +Collecting spruce gum is another, and he was continually hacking off +with his hatchet knobs of the translucent secretion. How rich and +fragrant are these forests! The rhododendron was still in occasional +bloom' and flowers of brilliant hue gleamed here and there. + +The struggle was more severe as we neared the summit, and the footing +worse for the horses. Occasionally it was safest to dismount and +lead them up slippery ascents; but this was also dangerous, for it +was difficult to keep them from treading on our heels, in their +frantic flounderings, in the steep, wet, narrow, brier-grown path. +At one uncommonly pokerish place, where the wet rock sloped into a +bog, the rider of Jack thought it prudent to dismount, but Big Tom +insisted that Jack would "make it" all right, only give him his head. +The rider gave him his head, and the next minute Jack's four heels +were in the air, and he came down on his side in a flash. The rider +fortunately extricated his leg without losing it, Jack scrambled out +with a broken shoe, and the two limped along. It was a wonder that +the horses' legs were not broken a dozen times. + +As we approached the top, Big Tom pointed out the direction, a half +mile away, of a small pond, a little mountain tarn, overlooked by a +ledge of rock, where Professor Mitchell lost his life. Big Tom was +the guide that found his body. That day, as we sat on the summit, he +gave in great detail the story, the general outline of which is well +known. + +The first effort to measure the height of the Black Mountains was +made in 1835, by Professor Elisha Mitchell, professor of mathematics +and chemistry in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. +Mr. Mitchell was a native of Connecticut, born in Washington, +Litchfield County, in 1793; graduated at Yale, ordained a +Presbyterian minister, and was for a time state surveyor; and became +a professor at Chapel Hill in 1818. He first ascertained and +published the fact that the Black Mountains are the highest land east +of the Rocky Mountains. In 1844 he visited the locality again. +Measurements were subsequently made by Professor Guyot and by Senator +Clingman. One of the peaks was named for the senator (the one next +in height to Mitchell is described as Clingman on the state map), and +a dispute arose as to whether Mitchell had really visited and +measured the highest peak. Senator Clingman still maintains that he +did not, and that the peak now known as Mitchell is the one that +Clingman first described. The estimates of altitudes made by the +three explorers named differed considerably. The height now fixed +for Mount Mitchell is 6711; that of Mount Washington is 6285. There +are twelve peaks in this range higher than Mount Washington, and if +we add those in the Great Smoky Mountains which overtop it, there are +some twenty in this State higher than the granite giant of New +Hampshire. + +In order to verify his statement, Professor Mitchell (then in his +sixty-fourth year) made a third ascent in June, 1857. He was alone, +and went up from the Swannanoa side. He did not return. No anxiety +was felt for two or three days, as he was a good mountaineer, and it +was supposed he had crossed the mountain and made his way out by the +Caney River. But when several days passed without tidings of him, a +search party was formed. Big Tom Wilson was with it. They explored +the mountain in all directions unsuccessfully. At length Big Tom +separated himself from his companions and took a course in accordance +with his notion of that which would be pursued by a man lost in the +clouds or the darkness. He soon struck the trail of the wanderer, +and, following it, discovered Mitchell's body lying in a pool at the +foot of a rocky precipice some thirty feet high. It was evident that +Mitchell, making his way along the ridge in darkness or fog, had +fallen off. It was the ninth (or the eleventh) day of his +disappearance, but in the pure mountain air the body had suffered no +change. Big Tom brought his companions to the place, and on +consultation it was decided to leave the body undisturbed till +Mitchell's friends could be present. + +There was some talk of burying him on the mountain, but the friends +decided otherwise, and the remains, with much difficulty, were got +down to Asheville and there interred. + +Some years afterwards, I believe at the instance of a society of +scientists, it was resolved to transport the body to the summit of +Mount Mitchell; for the tragic death of the explorer had forever +settled in the popular mind the name of the mountain. The task was +not easy. A road had to be cut, over which a sledge could be hauled, +and the hardy mountaineers who undertook the removal were three days +in reaching the summit with their burden. The remains were +accompanied by a considerable concourse, and the last rites on the +top were participated in by a hundred or more scientists and +prominent men from different parts of the State. Such a strange +cortege had never before broken the silence of this lonely +wilderness, nor was ever burial more impressive than this wild +interment above the clouds. + +We had been preceded in our climb all the way by a huge bear. That +he was huge, a lunker, a monstrous old varmint, Big Tom knew by the +size of his tracks; that he was making the ascent that morning ahead +of us, Big Tom knew by the freshness of the trail. We might come +upon him at any moment; he might be in the garden; was quite likely +to be found in the raspberry patch. That we did not encounter him I +am convinced was not the fault of Big Tom, but of the bear. + +After a struggle of five hours we emerged from the balsams and briers +into a lovely open meadow, of lush clover, timothy, and blue grass. +We unsaddled the horses and turned them loose to feed in it. The +meadow sloped up to a belt of balsams and firs, a steep rocky knob, +and climbing that on foot we stood upon the summit of Mitchell at one +o'clock. We were none too soon, for already the clouds were +preparing for what appears to be a daily storm at this season. + +The summit is a nearly level spot of some thirty or forty feet in +extent either way, with a floor of rock and loose stones. The +stunted balsams have been cut away so as to give a view. The sweep +of prospect is vast, and we could see the whole horizon except in the +direction of Roan, whose long bulk was enveloped in cloud. Portions +of six States were in sight, we were told, but that is merely a +geographical expression. What we saw, wherever we looked, was an +inextricable tumble of mountains, without order or leading line of +direction,--domes, peaks, ridges, endless and countless, everywhere, +some in shadow, some tipped with shafts of sunlight, all wooded and +green or black, and all in more softened contours than our Northern +hills, but still wild, lonesome, terrible. Away in the southwest, +lifting themselves up in a gleam of the western sky, the Great Smoky +Mountains loomed like a frowning continental fortress, sullen and +remote. With Clingman and Gibbs and Holdback peaks near at hand and +apparently of equal height, Mitchell seemed only a part and not +separate from the mighty congregation of giants. + +In the center of the stony plot on the summit lie the remains of +Mitchell. To dig a grave in the rock was impracticable, but the +loose stones were scooped away to the depth of a foot or so, the body +was deposited, and the stones were replaced over it. It was the +original intention to erect a monument, but the enterprise of the +projectors of this royal entombment failed at that point. The grave +is surrounded by a low wall of loose stones, to which each visitor +adds one, and in the course of ages the cairn may grow to a good +size. The explorer lies there without name or headstone to mark his +awful resting-place. The mountain is his monument. He is alone with +its majesty. He is there in the clouds, in the tempests, where the +lightnings play, and thunders leap, amid the elemental tumult, in the +occasional great calm and silence and the pale sunlight. It is the +most majestic, the most lonesome grave on earth. + +As we sat there, awed a little by this presence, the clouds were +gathering from various quarters and drifting towards us. We could +watch the process of thunder-storms and the manufacture of tempests. +I have often noticed on other high mountains how the clouds, forming +like genii released from the earth, mount into the upper air, and in +masses of torn fragments of mist hurry across the sky as to a +rendezvous of witches. This was a different display. These clouds +came slowly sailing from the distant horizon, like ships on an aerial +voyage. Some were below us, some on our level; they were all in +well-defined, distinct masses, molten silver on deck, below trailing +rain, and attended on earth by gigantic shadows that moved with them. +This strange fleet of battle-ships, drifted by the shifting currents, +was maneuvering for an engagement. One after another, as they came +into range about our peak of observation, they opened fire. Sharp +flashes of lightning darted from one to the other; a jet of flame +from one leaped across the interval and was buried in the bosom of +its adversary; and at every discharge the boom of great guns echoed +through the mountains. It was something more than a royal salute to +the tomb of the mortal at our feet, for the masses of cloud were rent +in the fray, at every discharge the rain was precipitated in +increasing torrents, and soon the vast hulks were trailing torn +fragments and wreaths of mist, like the shot-away shrouds and sails +of ships in battle. Gradually, from this long-range practice with +single guns and exchange of broadsides, they drifted into closer +conflict, rushed together, and we lost sight of the individual +combatants in the general tumult of this aerial war. + +We had barely twenty minutes for our observations, when it was time +to go; and had scarcely left the peak when the clouds enveloped it. +We hastened down under the threatening sky to the saddles and the +luncheon. Just off from the summit, amid the rocks, is a complete +arbor, or tunnel, of rhododendrons. This cavernous place a Western +writer has made the scene of a desperate encounter between Big Tom +and a catamount, or American panther, which had been caught in a trap +and dragged it there, pursued by Wilson. It is an exceedingly +graphic narrative, and is enlivened by the statement that Big Tom had +the night before drunk up all the whisky of the party which had spent +the night on the summit. Now Big Tom assured us that the whisky part +of the story was an invention; he was not (which is true) in the +habit of using it; if he ever did take any, it might be a drop on +Mitchell; in fact, when he inquired if we had a flask, he remarked +that a taste of it would do him good then and there. We regretted +the lack of it in our baggage. But what inclined Big Tom to +discredit the Western writer's story altogether was the fact that he +never in his life had had a difficulty with a catamount, and never +had seen one in these mountains. + +Our lunch was eaten in haste. Big Tom refused the chicken he had +provided for us, and strengthened himself with slices of raw salt +pork, which he cut from a hunk with his clasp-knife. We caught and +saddled our horses, who were reluctant to leave the rich feed, +enveloped ourselves in waterproofs, and got into the stony path for +the descent just as the torrent came down. It did rain. It +lightened, the thunder crashed, the wind howled and twisted the +treetops. It was as if we were pursued by the avenging spirits of +the mountains for our intrusion. Such a tempest on this height had +its terrors even for our hardy guide. He preferred to be lower down +while it was going on. The crash and reverberation of the thunder +did not trouble us so much as the swish of the wet branches in our +faces and the horrible road, with its mud, tripping roots, loose +stones, and slippery rocks. Progress was slow. The horses were in +momentary danger of breaking their legs. In the first hour there was +not much descent. In the clouds we were passing over Clingman, +Gibbs, and Holdback. The rain had ceased, but the mist still shut +off all view, if any had been attainable, and bushes and paths were +deluged. The descent was more uncomfortable than the ascent, and we +were compelled a good deal of the way to lead the jaded horses down +the slippery rocks. + +>From the peak to the Widow Patten's, where we proposed to pass the +night, is twelve miles, a distance we rode or scrambled down, every +step of the road bad, in five and a half hours. Halfway down we came +out upon a cleared place, a farm, with fruit-trees and a house in +ruins. Here had been a summer hotel much resorted to before the war, +but now abandoned. Above it we turned aside for the view from +Elizabeth rock, named from the daughter of the proprietor of the +hotel, who often sat here, said Big Tom, before she went out of this +world. It is a bold rocky ledge, and the view from it, looking +south, is unquestionably the finest, the most pleasing and picture- +like, we found in these mountains. In the foreground is the deep +gorge of a branch of the Swannanoa, and opposite is the great wall of +the Blue Ridge (the Blue Ridge is the most capricious and +inexplicable system) making off to the Blacks. The depth of the +gorge, the sweep of the sky line, and the reposeful aspect of the +scene to the sunny south made this view both grand and charming. +Nature does not always put the needed dash of poetry into her +extensive prospects. + +Leaving this clearing and the now neglected spring, where fashion +used to slake its thirst, we zigzagged down the mountain-side through +a forest of trees growing at every step larger and nobler, and at +length struck a small stream, the North Fork of the Swannanoa, which +led us to the first settlement. Just at night,--it was nearly seven +o'clock,--we entered one of the most stately forests I have ever +seen, and rode for some distance in an alley of rhododendrons that +arched overhead and made a bower. It was like an aisle in a temple; +high overhead was the somber, leafy roof, supported by gigantic +columns. Few widows have such an avenue of approach to their domain +as the Widow Patten has. + +Cheering as this outcome was from the day's struggle and storm, the +Professor seemed sunk in a profound sadness. The auguries which the +Friend drew from these signs of civilization of a charming inn and a +royal supper did not lighten the melancholy of his mind. "Alas," he +said, + + "Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, + And make me travel forth without my cloak, + To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way, + Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke? + 'T is not enough that through the cloud thou break, + To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face, + For no man well of such a salve can speak + That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace: + Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief: + Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss." + +"Loss of what?" cried the Friend, as he whipped up his halting +steed. + +"Loss of self-respect. I feel humiliated that I consented to climb +this mountain." + +"Nonsense! You'll live to thank me for it, as the best thing you +ever did. It's over and done now, and you've got it to tell your +friends." + +"That's just the trouble. They'll ask me if I went up Mitchell, and +I shall have to say I did. My character for consistency is gone. +Not that I care much what they think, but my own self-respect is +gone. I never believed I would do it. A man ca'nt afford to lower +himself in his own esteem, at my time of life." + +The Widow Patten's was only an advanced settlement in this narrow +valley on the mountain-side, but a little group of buildings, a +fence, and a gate gave it the air of a place, and it had once been +better cared for than it is now. Few travelers pass that way, and +the art of entertaining, if it ever existed, is fallen into +desuetude. We unsaddled at the veranda, and sat down to review our +adventure, make the acquaintance of the family, and hear the last +story from Big Tom. The mountaineer, though wet, was as fresh as a +daisy, and fatigue in no wise checked the easy, cheerful flow of his +talk. He was evidently a favorite with his neighbors, and not +unpleasantly conscious of the extent of his reputation. But he +encountered here another social grade. The Widow Patten was highly +connected. We were not long in discovering that she was an +Alexander. She had been a schoolmate of Senator Vance,--" Zeb Vance +"he still was to her,--and the senator and his wife had stayed at her +house. I wish I could say that the supper, for which we waited till +nine o'clock, was as "highly connected" as the landlady. It was, +however, a supper that left its memory. We were lodged in a detached +house, which we had to ourselves, where a roaring wood fire made +amends for other things lacking. It was necessary to close the doors +to keep out the wandering cows and pigs, and I am bound to say that, +notwithstanding the voices of the night, we slept there the sleep of +peace. + +In the morning a genuine surprise awaited us; it seemed impossible, +but the breakfast was many degrees worse than the supper; and when we +paid our bill, large for the region, we were consoled by the thought +that we paid for the high connection as well as for the +accommodations. This is a regular place of entertainment, and one is +at liberty to praise it without violation of delicacy. + +The broken shoe of Jack required attention, and we were all the +morning hunting a blacksmith, as we rode down the valley. Three +blacksmith's shanties were found, and after long waiting to send for +the operator it turned out in each case that he had no shoes, no +nails, no iron to make either of. We made a detour of three miles to +what was represented as a regular shop. The owner had secured the +service of a colored blacksmith for a special job, and was, not +inclined to accommodate us; he had no shoes, no nails. But the +colored blacksmith, who appreciated the plight we were in, offered to +make a shoe, and to crib four nails from those he had laid aside for +a couple of mules; and after a good deal of delay, we were enabled to +go on. The incident shows, as well as anything, the barrenness and +shiftlessness of the region. A horseman with whom we rode in the +morning gave us a very low estimate of the trustworthiness of the +inhabitants. The valley is wild and very pretty all the way down to +Colonel Long's,--twelve miles,--but the wretched-looking people along +the way live in a wretched manner. + +Just before reaching Colonel Long's we forded the stream (here of +good size), the bridge having tumbled down, and encountered a party +of picnickers under the trees--signs of civilization; a railway +station is not far off. Colonel Long's is a typical Southern +establishment: a white house, or rather three houses, all of one +story, built on to each other as beehives are set in a row, all +porches and galleries. No one at home but the cook, a rotund, broad- +faced woman, with a merry eye, whose very appearance suggested good +cooking and hospitality; the Missis and the children had gone up to +the river fishing; the Colonel was somewhere about the place; always +was away when he was wanted. Guess he'd take us in, mighty fine man +the Colonel; and she dispatched a child from a cabin in the rear to +hunt him up. The Colonel was a great friend of her folks down to +Greenville; they visited here. Law, no, she didn't live here. Was +just up here spending the summer, for her health. God-forsaken lot +of people up here, poor trash. She wouldn't stay here a day, but the +Colonel was a friend of her folks, the firstest folks in Greenville. +Nobody round here she could 'sociate with. She was a Presbyterian, +the folks round here mostly Baptists and Methodists. More style +about the Presbyterians. Married? No, she hoped not. She did n't +want to support no husband. Got 'nuff to do to take care of herself. +That her little girl? No; she'd only got one child, down to +Greenville, just the prettiest boy ever was, as white as anybody. +How did she what? reconcile this state of things with not being +married and being a Presbyterian? Sho! she liked to carry some +religion along; it was mighty handy occasionally, mebbe not all the +time. Yes, indeed, she enjoyed her religion. + +The Colonel appeared and gave us a most cordial welcome. The fat and +merry cook blustered around and prepared a good dinner, memorable for +its "light" bread, the first we had seen since Cranberry Forge. The +Colonel is in some sense a public man, having been a mail agent, and +a Republican. He showed us photographs and engravings of Northern +politicians, and had the air of a man who had been in Washington. +This was a fine country for any kind of fruit,--apples, grapes, +pears; it needed a little Northern enterprise to set things going. +The travelers were indebted to the Colonel for a delightful noonday +rest, and with regret declined his pressing invitation to pass the +night with him. + +The ride down the Swannanoa to Asheville was pleasant, through a +cultivated region, over a good road. The Swannanoa is, however, a +turbid stream. In order to obtain the most impressive view of +Asheville we approached it by the way of Beaucatcher Hill, a sharp +elevation a mile west of the town. I suppose the name is a +corruption of some descriptive French word, but it has long been a +favorite resort of the frequenters of Asheville, and it may be +traditional that it is a good place to catch beaux. The summit is +occupied by a handsome private residence, and from this ridge the +view, which has the merit of "bursting" upon the traveler as he comes +over the hill, is captivating in its extent and variety. The pretty +town of Asheville is seen to cover a number of elevations gently +rising out of the valley, and the valley, a rich agricultural region, +well watered and fruitful, is completely inclosed by picturesque +hills, some of them rising to the dignity of mountains. The most +conspicuous of these is Mount Pisgah, eighteen miles distant to the +southwest, a pyramid of the Balsam range, 5757 feet high. Mount +Pisgah, from its shape, is the most attractive mountain in this +region. + +The sunset light was falling upon the splendid panorama and softening +it. The windows of the town gleamed as if on fire. From the steep +slope below came the mingled sounds of children shouting, cattle +driven home, and all that hum of life that marks a thickly peopled +region preparing for the night. It was the leisure hour of an August +afternoon, and Asheville was in all its watering-place gayety, as we +reined up at the Swannanoa hotel. A band was playing on the balcony. +We had reached ice-water, barbers, waiters, civilization. + + + + +IV + +Ashville, delightful for situation, on small hills that rise above +the French Broad below its confluence with the Swannanoa, is a sort +of fourteenth cousin to Saratoga. It has no springs, but lying 2250 +feet above the sea and in a lovely valley, mountain girt, it has pure +atmosphere and an equable climate; and being both a summer and winter +resort, it has acquired a watering-place air. There are Southerners +who declare that it is too hot in summer, and that the complete +circuit of mountains shuts out any lively movement of air. But the +scenery is so charming and noble, the drives are so varied, the roads +so unusually passable for a Southern country, and the facilities for +excursions so good, that Asheville is a favorite resort. + +Architecturally the place is not remarkable, but its surface is so +irregular, there are so many acclivities and deep valleys that +improvements can never obliterate, that it is perforce picturesque. +It is interesting also, if not pleasing, in its contrasts--the +enterprise of taste and money-making struggling with the laissez +faire of the South. The negro, I suppose, must be regarded as a +conservative element; he has not much inclination to change his +clothes or his cabin, and his swarming presence gives a ragged aspect +to the new civilization. And to say the truth, the new element of +Southern smartness lacks the trim thrift the North is familiar with; +though the visitor who needs relaxation is not disposed to quarrel +with the easy-going terms on which life is taken. + +Asheville, it is needless to say, appeared very gay and stimulating +to the riders from the wilderness. The Professor, who does not even +pretend to patronize Nature, had his revenge as we strolled about the +streets (there is but one of much consideration), immensely +entertained by the picturesque contrasts. There was more life and +amusement here in five minutes, he declared, than in five days of +what people called scenery--the present rage for scenery, anyway, +being only a fashion and a modern invention. The Friend suspected +from this penchant for the city that the Professor must have been +brought up in the country. + +There was a kind of predetermined and willful gayety about Asheville +however, that is apt to be present in a watering-place, and gave to +it the melancholy tone that is always present in gay places. We +fancied that the lively movement in the streets had an air of +unreality. A band of musicians on the balcony of the Swannanoa were +scraping and tooting and twanging with a hired air, and on the +opposite balcony of the Eagle a rival band echoed and redoubled the +perfunctory joyousness. The gayety was contagious: the horses felt +it; those that carried light burdens of beauty minced and pranced, +the pony in the dog-cart was inclined to dash, the few passing +equipages had an air of pleasure; and the people of color, the comely +waitress and the slouching corner-loafer, responded to the animation +of the festive strains. In the late afternoon the streets were full +of people, wagons, carriages, horsemen, all with a holiday air, +dashed with African color and humor--the irresponsibility of the most +insouciant and humorous race in the world, perhaps more comical than +humorous; a mixture of recent civilization and rudeness, peculiar and +amusing; a happy coming together, it seemed, of Southern abandon and +Northern wealth, though the North was little represented at this +season. + +As evening came on, the streets, though wanting gas, were still more +animated; the shops were open, some very good ones, and the white and +black throng increasing, especially the black, for the negro is +preeminently a night bird. In the hotels dancing was promised--the +german was announced; on the galleries and in the corridors were +groups of young people, a little loud in manner and voice,--the young +gentleman, with his over-elaborate manner to ladies in bowing and +hat-lifting, and the blooming girls from the lesser Southern cities, +with the slight provincial note, and yet with the frank and engaging +cordiality which is as charming as it is characteristic. I do not +know what led the Professor to query if the Southern young women were +not superior to the Southern young men, but he is always asking +questions nobody can answer. At the Swannanoa were half a dozen +bridal couples, readily recognizable by the perfect air they had of +having been married a long time. How interesting such young voyagers +are, and how interesting they are to each other! Columbus never +discovered such a large world as they have to find out and possess +each in the other. + +Among the attractions of the evening it was difficult to choose. +There was a lawn-party advertised at Battery Point (where a fine +hotel has since been built) and we walked up to that round knob after +dark. It is a hill with a grove, which commands a charming view, and +was fortified during the war. We found it illuminated with Chinese +lanterns; and little tables set about under the trees, laden with +cake and ice-cream, offered a chance to the stranger to contribute +money for the benefit of the Presbyterian Church. I am afraid it was +not a profitable entertainment, for the men seemed to have business +elsewhere, but the ladies about the tables made charming groups in +the lighted grove. Man is a stupid animal at best, or he would not +make it so difficult for the womenkind to scrape together a little +money for charitable purposes. But probably the women like this +method of raising money better than the direct one. + +The evening gayety of the town was well distributed. When we +descended to the Court-House Square, a great crowd had collected, +black, white, and yellow, about a high platform, upon which four +glaring torches lighted up the novel scene, and those who could read +might decipher this legend on a standard at the back of the stage: + + HAPPY JOHN. + ONE OF THE SLAVES OF WADE HAMPTON. + COME AND SEE HIM! + +Happy John, who occupied the platform with Mary, a "bright" yellow +girl, took the comical view of his race, which was greatly enjoyed by +his audience. His face was blackened to the proper color of the +stage-darky, and he wore a flaming suit of calico, the trousers and +coat striped longitudinally according to Punch's idea of "Uncle Sam," +the coat a swallow-tail bound and faced with scarlet, and a bell- +crowned white hat. This conceit of a colored Yankee seemed to tickle +all colors in the audience amazingly. Mary, the "bright" woman (this +is the universal designation of the light mulatto), was a pleasing +but bold yellow girl, who wore a natty cap trimmed with scarlet, and +had the assured or pert manner of all traveling sawdust performers. + +"Oh, yes," exclaimed a bright woman in the crowd, "Happy John was +sure enough one of Wade Hampton's slaves, and he's right good looking +when he's not blackened up." + +Happy John sustained the promise of his name by spontaneous gayety +and enjoyment of the fleeting moment; he had a glib tongue and a +ready, rude wit, and talked to his audience with a delicious mingling +of impudence, deference, and patronage, commenting upon them +generally, administering advice and correction in a strain of humor +that kept his hearers in a pleased excitement. He handled the banjo +and the guitar alternately, and talked all the time when he was not +singing. Mary (how much harder featured and brazen a woman is in +such a position than a man of the same caliber!) sang, in an +untutored treble, songs of sentiment, often risque, in solo and in +company with John, but with a cold, indifferent air, in contrast to +the rollicking enjoyment of her comrade. + +The favorite song, which the crowd compelled her to repeat, touched +lightly the uncertainties of love, expressed in the falsetto pathetic +refrain: + + "Mary's gone away wid de coon." + +All this, with the moon, the soft summer night, the mixed crowd of +darkies and whites, the stump eloquence of Happy John, the singing, +the laughter, the flaring torches, made a wild scene. The +entertainment was quite free, with a "collection" occasionally during +the performance. + +What most impressed us, however, was the turning to account by Happy +John of the "nigger" side of the black man as a means of low comedy, +and the enjoyment of it by all the people of color. They appeared to +appreciate as highly as anybody the comic element in themselves, and +Happy John had emphasized it by deepening his natural color and +exaggerating the "nigger" peculiarities. I presume none of them +analyzed the nature of his infectious gayety, nor thought of the +pathos that lay so close to it, in the fact of his recent slavery, +and the distinction of being one of Wade Hampton's niggers, and the +melancholy mirth of this light-hearted race's burlesque of itself. + +A performance followed which called forth the appreciation of the +crowd more than the wit of Happy John or the faded songs of the +yellow girl. John took two sweet-cakes and broke each in fine pieces +into a saucer, and after sugaring and eulogizing the dry messes, +called for two small darky volunteers from the audience to come up on +the platform and devour them. He offered a prize of fifteen cents to +the one who should first eat the contents of his dish, not using his +hands, and hold up the saucer empty in token of his victory. The +cake was tempting, and the fifteen cents irresistible, and a couple +of boys in ragged shirts and short trousers and a suspender apiece +came up shamefacedly to enter for the prize. Each one grasped his +saucer in both hands, and with face over the dish awaited the word +"go," which John gave, and started off the contest with a banjo +accompaniment. To pick up with the mouth the dry cake and choke it +down was not so easy as the boys apprehended, but they went into the +task with all their might, gobbling and swallowing as if they loved +cake, occasionally rolling an eye to the saucer of the contestant to +see the relative progress, John strumming, ironically encouraging, +and the crowd roaring. As the combat deepened and the contestants +strangled and stuffed and sputtered, the crowd went into spasms of +laughter. The smallest boy won by a few seconds, holding up his +empty saucer, with mouth stuffed, vigorously trying to swallow, like +a chicken with his throat clogged with dry meal, and utterly unable +to speak. The impartial John praised the victor in mock heroics, but +said that the trial was so even that he would divide the prize, ten +cents to one and five to the other--a stroke of justice that greatly +increased his popularity. And then he dismissed the assembly, saying +that he had promised the mayor to do so early, because he did not +wish to run an opposition to the political meeting going on in the +courthouse. + +The scene in the large court-room was less animated than that out- +doors; a half-dozen tallow dips, hung on the wall in sconces and +stuck on the judge's long desk, feebly illuminated the mixed crowd of +black and white who sat in, and on the backs of, the benches, and +cast only a fitful light upon the orator, who paced back and forth +and pounded the rail. It was to have been a joint discussion between +the two presidential electors running in that district, but, the +Republican being absent, his place was taken by a young man of the +town. The Democratic orator took advantage of the absence of his +opponent to describe the discussion of the night before, and to give +a portrait of his adversary. He was represented as a cross between a +baboon and a jackass, who would be a natural curiosity for Barnum. +"I intend," said the orator," to put him in a cage and exhibit him +about the deestrict." This political hit called forth great +applause. All his arguments were of this pointed character, and they +appeared to be unanswerable. The orator appeared to prove that there +wasn't a respectable man in the opposite party who wasn't an office- +holder, nor a white man of any kind in it who was not an office- +holder. If there were any issues or principles in the canvass, he +paid his audience the compliment of knowing all about them, for he +never alluded to any. In another state of society, such a speech of +personalities might have led to subsequent shootings, but no doubt +his adversary would pay him in the same coin when next they met, and +the exhibition seemed to be regarded down here as satisfactory and +enlightened political canvassing for votes. The speaker who replied, +opened his address with a noble tribute to woman (as the first +speaker had ended his), directed to a dozen of that sex who sat in +the gloom of a corner. The young man was moderate in his sarcasm, +and attempted to speak of national issues, but the crowd had small +relish for that sort of thing. At eleven o'clock, when we got away +from the unsavory room (more than half the candles had gone out), the +orator was making slow headway against the refished blackguardism of +the evening. The german was still "on" at the hotel when we ascended +to our chamber, satisfied that Asheville was a lively town. + +The sojourner at Asheville can amuse himself very well by walking or +driving to the many picturesque points of view about the town; livery +stables abound, and the roads are good. The Beau-catcher Hill is +always attractive; and Connolly's, a private place a couple of miles +from town, is ideally situated, being on a slight elevation in the +valley, commanding the entire circuit of mountains, for it has the +air of repose which is so seldom experienced in the location of a +dwelling in America whence an extensive prospect is given. Or if the +visitor is disinclined to exertion, he may lounge in the rooms of the +hospitable Asheville Club; or he may sit on the sidewalk in front of +the hotels, and talk with the colonels and judges and generals and +ex-members of Congress, the talk generally drifting to the new +commercial and industrial life of the South, and only to politics as +it affects these; and he will be pleased, if the conversation takes a +reminiscent turn, with the lack of bitterness and the tone of +friendliness. The negro problem is commonly discussed +philosophically and without heat, but there is always discovered, +underneath, the determination that the negro shall never again get +the legislative upper hand. And the gentleman from South Carolina +who has an upland farm, and is heartily glad slavery is gone, and +wants the negro educated, when it comes to ascendency in politics-- +such as the State once experienced--asks you what you would do +yourself. This is not the place to enter upon the politico-social +question, but the writer may note one impression gathered from much +friendly and agreeable conversation. It is that the Southern whites +misapprehend and make a scarecrow of "social equality." When, during +the war, it was a question at the North of giving the colored people +of the Northern States the ballot, the argument against it used to be +stated in the form of a question: "Do you want your daughter to marry +a negro?" Well, the negro has his political rights in the North, and +there has come no change in the social conditions whatever. And +there is no doubt that the social conditions would remain exactly as +they are at the South if the negro enjoyed all the civil rights which +the Constitution tries to give him. The most sensible view of this +whole question was taken by an intelligent colored man, whose brother +was formerly a representative in Congress. "Social equality," he +said in effect, "is a humbug. We do not expect it, we do not want +it. It does not exist among the blacks themselves. We have our own +social degrees, and choose our own associates. We simply want the +ordinary civil rights, under which we can live and make our way in +peace and amity. This is necessary to our self-respect, and if we +have not self-respect, it is not to be supposed that the race can +improve. I'll tell you what I mean. My wife is a modest, +intelligent woman, of good manners, and she is always neat, and +tastefully dressed. Now, if she goes to take the cars, she is not +permitted to go into a clean car with decent people, but is ordered +into one that is repellent, and is forced into company that any +refined woman would shrink from. But along comes a flauntingly +dressed woman, of known disreputable character, whom my wife would be +disgraced to know, and she takes any place that money will buy. It +is this sort of thing that hurts." + +We took the eastern train one evening to Round Nob (Henry's Station), +some thirty miles, in order to see the wonderful railway that +descends, a distance of eight miles, from the summit of Swannanoa Gap +(2657 feet elevation) to Round Nob Hotel (1607 feet). The Swannanoa +Summit is the dividing line between the waters that flow to the +Atlantic and those that go to the Gulf of Mexico. This fact was +impressed upon us by the inhabitants, who derive a good deal of +comfort from it. Such divides are always matter of local pride. +Unfortunately, perhaps, it was too dark before we reached Henry's to +enable us to see the road in all its loops and parallels as it +appears on the map, but we gained a better effect. The hotel, when +we first sighted it, all its windows blazing with light, was at the +bottom of a well. Beside it--it was sufficiently light to see that-- +a column of water sprang straight into the air to the height, as we +learned afterwards from two official sources, of 225 and 265 feet; +and the information was added that it is the highest fountain in the +world. This stout column, stiff as a flagstaff, with its feathery +head of mist gleaming like silver in the failing light, had the most +charming effect. We passed out of sight of hotel and fountain, but +were conscious of being--whirled on a circular descending grade, and +very soon they were in sight again. Again and again they disappeared +and came to view, now on one side and now on the other, until our +train seemed to be bewitched, making frantic efforts by dodgings and +turnings, now through tunnels and now over high pieces of trestle, to +escape the inevitable attraction that was gravitating it down to the +hospitable lights at the bottom of the well. When we climbed back up +the road in the morning, we had an opportunity to see the marvelous +engineering, but there is little else to see, the view being nearly +always very limited. + +The hotel at the bottom of the ravine, on the side of Round Nob, +offers little in the way of prospect, but it is a picturesque place, +and we could understand why it was full of visitors when we came to +the table. It was probably the best-kept house of entertainment in +the State, and being in the midst of the Black Hills, it offers good +chances for fishing and mountain climbing. + +In the morning the fountain, which is, of course, artificial, refused +to play, the rain in the night having washed in debris which clogged +the conduit. But it soon freed itself and sent up for a long time, +like a sulky geyser, mud and foul water. When it got freedom and +tolerable clearness, we noted that the water went up in pulsations, +which were marked at short distances by the water falling off, giving +the column the appearance of a spine. The summit, always beating the +air in efforts to rise higher, fell over in a veil of mist. + +There are certain excursions that the sojourner at Asheville must +make. He must ride forty-five miles south through Henderson and +Transylvania to Caesar's Head, on the South Carolina border, where +the mountain system abruptly breaks down into the vast southern +plain; where the observer, standing on the edge of the precipice, has +behind him and before him the greatest contrast that nature can +offer. He must also take the rail to Waynesville, and visit the +much-frequented White Sulphur Springs, among the Balsam Mountains, +and penetrate the Great Smoky range by way of Quallatown, and make +the acquaintance of the remnant of Cherokee Indians living on the +north slope of Cheoah Mountain. The Professor could have made it a +matter of personal merit that he escaped all these encounters with +wild and picturesque nature, if his horse had not been too disabled +for such long jaunts. It is only necessary, however, to explain to +the public that the travelers are not gormandizers of scenery, and +were willing to leave some portions of the State to the curiosity of +future excursionists. + +But so much was said about Hickory Nut Gap that a visit to it could +not be evaded. The Gap is about twenty-four miles southeast of +Asheville. In the opinion of a well-informed colonel, who urged us +to make the trip, it is the finest piece of scenery it this region. +We were brought up on the precept "get the best," and it was with +high anticipations that we set out about eleven o'clock one warm, +foggy morning. We followed a very good road through a broken, +pleasant country, gradually growing wilder and less cultivated. +There was heavy rain most of the day on the hills, and occasionally a +shower swept across our path. The conspicuous object toward which we +traveled all the morning was a shapely conical hill at the beginning +of the Gap. + +At three o'clock we stopped at the Widow Sherrill's for dinner. Her +house, only about a mile from the summit, is most picturesquely +situated on a rough slope, giving a wide valley and mountain view. +The house is old rambling, many-roomed, with wide galleries on two +sides. If one wanted a retired retreat for a few days, with good air +and fair entertainment, this could be commended. It is an excellent +fruit region; apples especially are sound and of good flavor. That +may be said of all this part of the State. The climate is adapted to +apples, as the hilly part of New England is. I fancy the fruit +ripens slowly, as it does in New England, and is not subject to quick +decay like much of that grown in the West. But the grape also can be +grown in all this mountain region. Nothing but lack of enterprise +prevents any farmer from enjoying abundance of fruit. The industry +carried on at the moment at the Widow Sherrill's was the artificial +drying of apples for the market. The apples are pared, cored, and +sliced in spirals, by machinery, and dried on tin sheets in a +patented machine. The industry appears to be a profitable one +hereabouts, and is about the only one that calls in the aid of +invention. + +While our dinner was preparing, we studied the well-known pictures of +"Jane" and "Eliza," the photographs of Confederate boys, who had +never returned from the war, and the relations, whom the traveling +photographers always like to pillory in melancholy couples, and some +stray volumes of the Sunday-school Union. Madame Sherrill, who +carries on the farm since the death of her husband, is a woman of +strong and liberal mind, who informed us that she got small comfort +in the churches in the neighborhood, and gave us, in fact, a +discouraging account of the unvital piety of the region. + +The descent from the summit of the Gap to Judge Logan's, nine miles, +is rapid, and the road is wild and occasionally picturesque, +following the Broad River, a small stream when we first overtook it, +but roaring, rocky, and muddy, owing to frequent rains, and now and +then tumbling down in rapids. The noisy stream made the ride +animated, and an occasional cabin, a poor farmhouse, a mill, a +schoolhouse, a store with an assemblage of lean horses tied to the +hitching rails, gave the Professor opportunity for remarks upon the +value of life under such circumstances. + +The valley which we followed down probably owes its celebrity to the +uncommon phenomena of occasional naked rocks and precipices. The +inclosing mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and generally +wooded. I do not think that the ravine would be famous in a country +where exposed ledges and buttressing walls of rock are common. It is +only by comparison with the local scenery that this is remarkable. +About a mile above judge Logan's we caught sight, through the trees, +of the famous waterfall. From the top of the high ridge on the +right, a nearly perpendicular cascade pours over the ledge of rocks +and is lost in the forest. We could see nearly the whole of it, at a +great height above us, on the opposite side of the river, and it +would require an hour's stiff climb to reach its foot. From where we +viewed it, it seemed a slender and not very important, but certainly +a very beautiful cascade, a band of silver in the mass of green +foliage. The fall is said to be 1400 feet. Our colonel insists that +it is a thousand. It may be, but the valley where we stood is at +least at an elevation of 1300 feet; we could not believe that the +ridge over which the water pours is much higher than 3000 feet, and +the length of the fall certainly did not appear to be a quarter of +the height of the mountain from our point of observation. But we had +no desire to belittle this pretty cascade, especially when we found +that Judge Logan would regard a foot abated from the 1400 as a +personal grievance. Mr. Logan once performed the functions of local +judge, a Republican appointment, and he sits around the premises now +in the enjoyment of that past dignity and of the fact that his wife +is postmistress. His house of entertainment is at the bottom of the +valley, a place shut in, warm, damp, and not inviting to a long stay, +although the region boasts a good many natural curiosities. + +It was here that we encountered again the political current, out of +which we had been for a month. The Judge himself was reticent, as +became a public man, but he had conspicuously posted up a monster +prospectus, sent out from Augusta, of a campaign life of Blaine and +Logan, in which the Professor read, with shaking knees, this +sentence: "Sure to be the greatest and hottest [campaign and civil +battle] ever known in this world. The thunder of the supreme +struggle and its reverberations will shake the continents for months, +and will be felt from Pole to Pole." + +For this and other reasons this seemed a risky place to be in. There +was something sinister about the murky atmosphere, and a suspicion of +mosquitoes besides. Had there not been other travelers staying here, +we should have felt still more uneasy. The house faced Bald +Mountain, 4000 feet high, a hill that had a very bad reputation some +years ago, and was visited by newspaper reporters. This is, in fact, +the famous Shaking Mountain. For a long time it had a habit of +trembling, as if in an earthquake spasm, but with a shivering motion +very different from that produced by an earthquake. The only good +that came of it was that it frightened all the "moonshiners," and +caused them to join the church. It is not reported what became of +the church afterwards. It is believed now that the trembling was +caused by the cracking of a great ledge on the mountain, which slowly +parted asunder. Bald Mountain is the scene of Mrs. Burnett's +delightful story of "Louisiana," and of the play of "Esmeralda." +A rock is pointed out toward the summit, which the beholder is asked +to see resembles a hut, and which is called "Esmeralda's Cottage." +But this attractive maiden has departed, and we did not discover any +woman in the region who remotely answers to her description. + +In the morning we rode a mile and a half through the woods and +followed up a small stream to see the celebrated pools, one of which +the Judge said was two hundred feet deep, and another bottomless. +These pools, not round, but on one side circular excavations, some +twenty feet across, worn in the rock by pebbles, are very good +specimens, and perhaps remarkable specimens, of "pot-holes." They +are, however, regarded here as one of the wonders of the world. On +the way to them we saw beautiful wild trumpet-creepers in blossom, +festooning the trees. + +The stream that originates in Hickory Nut Gap is the westernmost +branch of several forks of the Broad, which unite to the southeast in +Rutherford County, flow to Columbia, and reach the Atlantic through +the channel of the Santee. It is not to be confounded with the +French Broad, which originates among the hills of Transylvania, runs +northward past Asheville, and finds its way to the Tennessee through +the Warm Springs Gap in the Bald Mountains. As the French claimed +ownership of all the affluents of the Mississippi, this latter was +called the French Broad. + +It was a great relief the next morning, on our return, to rise out of +the lifeless atmosphere of the Gap into the invigorating air at the +Widow Sherrill's, whose country-seat is three hundred feet higher +than Asheville. It was a day of heavy showers, and apparently of +leisure to the scattered population; at every store and mill was a +congregation of loafers, who had hitched their scrawny horses and +mules to the fences, and had the professional air of the idler and +gossip the world over. The vehicles met on the road were a variety +of the prairie schooner, long wagons with a top of hoops over which +is stretched a cotton cloth. The wagons are without seats, and the +canvas is too low to admit of sitting upright, if there were. The +occupants crawl in at either end, sit or lie on the bottom of the +wagon, and jolt along in shiftless uncomfortableness. + +Riding down the French Broad was one of the original objects of our +journey. Travelers with the same intention may be warned that the +route on horseback is impracticable. The distance to the Warm +Springs is thirty-seven miles; to Marshall, more than halfway, the +road is clear, as it runs on the opposite side of the river from the +railway, and the valley is something more than river and rails. But +below Marshall the valley contracts, and the rails are laid a good +portion of the way in the old stage road. One can walk the track, +but to ride a horse over its sleepers and culverts and occasional +bridges, and dodge the trains, is neither safe nor agreeable. We +sent our horses round--the messenger taking the risk of leading them, +between trains, over the last six or eight miles,--and took the +train. + +The railway, after crossing a mile or two of meadows, hugs the river +all the way. The scenery is the reverse of bold. The hills are low, +monotonous in form, and the stream winds through them, with many a +pretty turn and "reach," with scarcely a ribbon of room to spare on +either side. The river is shallow, rapid, stony, muddy, full of +rocks, with an occasional little island covered with low bushes. The +rock seems to be a clay formation, rotten and colored. As we +approach Warm Springs the scenery becomes a little bolder, and we +emerge into the open space about the Springs through a narrower +defile, guarded by rocks that are really picturesque in color and +splintered decay, one of them being known, of course, as the "Lover's +Leap," a name common in every part of the modern or ancient world +where there is a settlement near a precipice, with always the same +legend attached to it. + +There is a little village at Warm Springs, but the hotel--since +burned and rebuilt--(which may be briefly described as a palatial +shanty) stands by itself close to the river, which is here a deep, +rapid, turbid stream. A bridge once connected it with the road on +the opposite bank, but it was carried away three or four years ago, +and its ragged butments stand as a monument of procrastination, while +the stream is crossed by means of a flatboat and a cable. In front +of the hotel, on the slight slope to the river, is a meager grove of +locusts. The famous spring, close to-the stream, is marked only by a +rough box of wood and an iron pipe, and the water, which has a +temperature of about one hundred degrees, runs to a shabby bath-house +below, in which is a pool for bathing. The bath is very agreeable, +the tepid water being singularly soft and pleasant. It has a +slightly sulphurous taste. Its good effects are much certified. The +grounds, which might be very pretty with care, are ill-kept and +slatternly, strewn with debris, as if everything was left to the +easy-going nature of the servants. The main house is of brick, with +verandas and galleries all round, and a colonnade of thirteen huge +brick and stucco columns, in honor of the thirteen States,--a relic +of post-Revolutionary times, when the house was the resort of +Southern fashion and romance. These columns have stood through one +fire, and perhaps the recent one, which swept away the rest of the +structure. The house is extended in a long wooden edifice, with +galleries and outside stairs, the whole front being nearly seven +hundred feet long. In a rear building is a vast, barrack-like +dining-room, with a noble ball-room above, for dancing is the +important occupation of visitors. + +The situation is very pretty, and the establishment has a +picturesqueness of its own. Even the ugly little brick structure +near the bath-house imposes upon one as Wade Hampton's cottage. No +doubt we liked the place better than if it had been smart, and +enjoyed the neglige condition, and the easy terms on which life is +taken there. There was a sense of abundance in the sight of fowls +tiptoeing about the verandas, and to meet a chicken in the parlor was +a sort of guarantee that we should meet him later on in the dining- +room. There was nothing incongruous in the presence of pigs, +turkeys, and chickens on the grounds; they went along with the good- +natured negro-service and the general hospitality; and we had a +mental rest in the thought that all the gates would have been off the +hinges, if there had been any gates. The guests were very well +treated indeed, and were put under no sort of restraint by +discipline. The long colonnade made an admirable promenade and +lounging-place and point of observation. It was interesting to watch +the groups under the locusts, to see the management of the ferry, the +mounting and dismounting of the riding-parties, and to study the +colors on the steep hill opposite, halfway up which was a neat +cottage and flower-garden. The type of people was very pleasantly +Southern. Colonels and politicians stand in groups and tell stories, +which are followed by explosions of laughter; retire occasionally +into the saloon, and come forth reminded of more stories, and all +lift their hats elaborately and suspend the narratives when a lady +goes past. A company of soldiers from Richmond had pitched its tents +near the hotel, and in the evening the ball-room was enlivened with +uniforms. Among the graceful dancers--and every one danced well, and +with spirit was pointed out the young widow of a son of Andrew +Johnson, whose pretty cottage overlooks the village. But the +Professor, to whom this information was communicated, doubted whether +here it was not a greater distinction to be the daughter of the owner +of this region than to be connected with a President of the United +States. + +A certain air of romance and tradition hangs about the French Broad +and the Warm Springs, which the visitor must possess himself of in +order to appreciate either. This was the great highway of trade and +travel. At certain seasons there was an almost continuous procession +of herds of cattle and sheep passing to the Eastern markets, and of +trains of big wagons wending their way to the inviting lands watered +by the Tennessee. Here came in the summer-time the Southern planters +in coach and four, with a great retinue of household servants, and +kept up for months that unique social life, a mixture of courtly +ceremony and entire freedom, the civilization which had the drawing- +room at one end and the negro-quarters at the other,--which has +passed away. It was a continuation into our own restless era of the +manners and the literature of George the Third, with the accompanying +humor and happy-go-lucky decadence of the negro slaves. On our way +down we saw on the river-bank, under the trees, the old hostelry, +Alexander's, still in decay,--an attractive tavern, that was formerly +one of the notable stopping-places on the river. Master, and fine +lady, and obsequious, larking darky, and lumbering coach, and throng +of pompous and gay life, have all disappeared. There was no room in +this valley for the old institutions and for the iron track. + + "When in the chronicle of wasted time + I see descriptions of the fairest wights, + And beauty making beautiful old rhyme + In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, + We, which now behold these present days, + Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise." + +This perverted use of noble verse was all the response the Friend got +in his attempt to drop into the sentimental vein over the past of the +French Broad. + +The reader must not think there is no enterprise in this sedative and +idle resort. The conceited Yankee has to learn that it is not he +alone who can be accused of the thrift of craft. There is at the +Warm Springs a thriving mill for crushing and pulverizing barites, +known vulgarly as heavy-spar. It is the weight of this heaviest of +minerals, and not its lovely crystals, that gives it value. The rock +is crushed, washed, sorted out by hand, to remove the foreign +substances, then ground and subjected to acids, and at the end of the +process it is as white and fine as the best bolted flour. This heavy +adulterant is shipped to the North in large quantities,--the manager +said he had recently an order for a hundred thousand dollars' worth +of it. What is the use of this powder? Well, it is of use to the +dealer who sells white lead for paint, to increase the weight of the +lead, and it is the belief hereabouts that it is mixed with powdered +sugar. The industry is profitable to those engaged in it. + +It was impossible to get much information about our route into +Tennessee, except that we should go by Paint Rock, and cross Paint +Mountain. Late one morning,--a late start is inevitable here,-- +accompanied by a cavalcade, we crossed the river by the rope ferry, +and trotted down the pretty road, elevated above the stream and tree- +shaded, offering always charming glimpses of swift water and +overhanging foliage (the railway obligingly taking the other side of +the river), to Paint Rock,--six miles. This Paint Rock is a naked +precipice by the roadside, perhaps sixty feet high, which has a large +local reputation. It is said that its face shows painting done by +the Indians, and hieroglyphics which nobody can read. On this bold, +crumbling cliff, innumerable visitors have written their names. We +stared at it a good while to discover the paint and hieroglyphics, +but could see nothing except iron stains. Round the corner is a +farmhouse and place of call for visitors, a neat cottage, with a +display of shells and minerals and flower-pots; and here we turned +north crossed the little stream called Paint River, the only clear +water we had seen in a month, passed into the State of Tennessee, and +by a gentle ascent climbed Paint Mountain. The open forest road, +with the murmur of the stream below, was delightfully exhilarating, +and as we rose the prospect opened,--the lovely valley below, Bald +Mountains behind us, and the Butt Mountains rising as we came over +the ridge. + +Nobody on the way, none of the frowzy women or unintelligent men, +knew anything of the route, or could give us any information of the +country beyond. But as we descended in Tennessee the country and the +farms decidedly improved,--apple-trees and a grapevine now and then. + +A ride of eight miles brought us to Waddle's, hungry and disposed to +receive hospitality. We passed by an old farm building to a new two- +storied, gayly painted house on a hill. We were deceived by +appearances. The new house, with a new couple in it, had nothing to +offer us except some buttermilk. Why should anybody be obliged to +feed roving strangers? As to our horses, the young woman with a baby +in her arms declared, + +"We've got nothing for stock but roughness; perhaps you can get +something at the other house." + +"Roughness," we found out at the other house, meant hay in this +region. We procured for the horses a light meal of green oats, and +for our own dinner we drank at the brook and the Professor produced a +few sonnets. On this sustaining repast we fared on nearly twelve +miles farther, through a rolling, good farming country, offering +little for comment, in search of a night's lodging with one of the +brothers Snap. But one brother declined our company on the plea that +his wife was sick, and the other because his wife lived in +Greenville, and we found ourselves as dusk came on without shelter in +a tavernless land. Between the two refusals we enjoyed the most +picturesque bit of scenery of the day, at the crossing of Camp Creek, +a swift little stream, that swirled round under the ledge of bold +rocks before the ford. This we learned was a favorite camp-meeting +ground. Mary was calling the cattle home at the farm of the second +Snap. It was a very peaceful scene of rural life, and we were +inclined to tarry, but Mary, instead of calling us home with the +cattle, advised us to ride on to Alexander's before it got dark. + +It is proper to say that at Alexander's we began to see what this +pleasant and fruitful country might be, and will be, with thrift and +intelligent farming. Mr. Alexander is a well-to-do farmer, with +plenty of cattle and good barns (always an evidence of prosperity), +who owes his success to industry and an open mind to new ideas. He +was a Unionist during the war, and is a Democrat now, though his +county (Greene) has been Republican. We had been riding all the +afternoon through good land, and encountering a better class of +farmers. Peach-trees abounded (though this was an off year for +fruit), and apples and grapes throve. It is a land of honey and of +milk. The persimmon flourishes; and, sign of abundance generally, we +believe, great flocks of turkey-buzzards--majestic floaters in the +high air--hovered about. This country was ravaged during the war by +Unionists and Confederates alternately, the impartial patriots as +they passed scooping in corn, bacon, and good horses, leaving the +farmers little to live on. Mr. Alexander's farm cost him forty +dollars an acre, and yields good crops of wheat and maize. This was +the first house on our journey where at breakfast we had grace before +meat, though there had been many tables that needed it more. From +the door the noble range of the Big Bald is in sight and not distant; +and our host said he had a shanty on it, to which he was accustomed +to go with his family for a month or six weeks in the summer and +enjoy a real primitive woods life. + +Refreshed by this little touch of civilization, and with horses well +fed, we rode on next morning towards Jonesboro, over a rolling, +rather unpicturesque country, but ennobled by the Big Bald and Butt +ranges, which we had on our right all day. At noon we crossed the +Nollechucky River at a ford where the water was up to the saddle +girth, broad, rapid, muddy, and with a treacherous stony bottom, and +came to the little hamlet of Boylesville, with a flour-mill, and a +hospitable old-fashioned house, where we found shelter from the heat +of the hot day, and where the daughters of the house, especially one +pretty girl in a short skirt and jaunty cap, contradicted the +currently received notion that this world is a weary pilgrimage. The +big parlor, with its photographs and stereoscope, and bits of shell +and mineral, a piano and a melodeon, and a coveted old sideboard of +mahogany, recalled rural New England. Perhaps these refinements are +due to the Washington College (a school for both sexes), which is +near. We noted at the tables in this region a singular use of the +word fruit. When we were asked, Will you have some of the fruit? +and said Yes, we always got applesauce. + +Ten miles more in the late afternoon brought us to Jonesboro, the +oldest town in the State, a pretty place, with a flavor of antiquity, +set picturesquely on hills, with the great mountains in sight. +People from further South find this an agreeable summering place, and +a fair hotel, with odd galleries in front and rear, did not want +company. The Warren Institute for negroes has been flourishing here +ever since the war. + +A ride of twenty miles next day carried us to Union. Before noon we +forded the Watauga, a stream not so large as the Nollechucky, and +were entertained at the big brick house of Mr. Devault, a prosperous +and hospitable farmer. This is a rich country. We had met in the +morning wagon-loads of watermelons and muskmelons, on the way to +Jonesboro, and Mr. Devault set abundance of these refreshing fruits +before us as we lounged on the porch before dinner. + +It was here that we made the acquaintance of a colored woman, a +withered, bent old pensioner of the house, whose industry (she +excelled any modern patent apple-parer) was unabated, although she +was by her own confession (a woman, we believe, never owns her age +till she has passed this point) and the testimony of others a hundred +years old. But age had not impaired the brightness of her eyes, nor +the limberness of her tongue, nor her shrewd good sense. She talked +freely about the want of decency and morality in the young colored +folks of the present day. It was n't so when she was a girl. Long, +long time ago, she and her husband had been sold at sheriff's sale +and separated, and she never had another husband. Not that she +blamed her master so much he could n't help it; he got in debt. And +she expounded her philosophy about the rich, and the danger they are +in. The great trouble is that when a person is rich, he can borrow +money so easy, and he keeps drawin' it out of the bank and pilin' up +the debt, like rails on top of one another, till it needs a ladder to +get on to the pile, and then it all comes down in a heap, and the man +has to begin on the bottom rail again. If she'd to live her life +over again, she'd lay up money; never cared much about it till now. +The thrifty, shrewd old woman still walked about a good deal, and +kept her eye on the neighborhood. Going out that morning she had +seen some fence up the road that needed mending, and she told Mr. +Devault that she didn't like such shiftlessness; she didn't know as +white folks was much better than colored folks. Slavery? Yes, +slavery was pretty bad--she had seen five hundred niggers in +handcuffs, all together in a field, sold to be sent South. + +About six miles from here is a beech grove of historical interest, +worth a visit if we could have spared the time. In it is the large +beech (six and a half feet around six feet from the ground) on which +Daniel Boone shot a bear, when he was a rover in this region. He +himself cut an inscription on the tree recording his prowess, and it +is still distinctly legible: + + D. BOONE CILT A BAR ON THIS TREE, 1760. + +This tree is a place of pilgrimage, and names of people from all +parts of the country are cut on it, until there is scarcely room for +any more records of such devotion. The grove is ancient looking, the +trees are gnarled and moss-grown. Hundreds of people go there, and +the trees are carved all over with their immortal names. + +A pleasant ride over a rich rolling country, with an occasional strip +of forest, brought us to Union in the evening, with no other +adventure than the meeting of a steam threshing-machine in the road, +with steam up, clattering along. The devil himself could not invent +any machine calculated to act on the nerves of a horse like this. +Jack took one look and then dashed into the woods, scraping off his +rider's hat but did not succeed in getting rid of his burden or +knocking down any trees. + +Union, on the railway, is the forlornest of little villages, with +some three hundred inhabitants and a forlorn hotel, kept by an ex- +stage-driver. The village, which lies on the Holston, has no +drinking-water in it nor enterprise enough to bring it in; not a well +nor a spring in its limits; and for drinking-water everybody crosses +the river to a spring on the other side. A considerable part of the +labor of the town is fetching water over the bridge. On a hill +overlooking the village is a big, pretentious brick house, with a +tower, the furniture of which is an object of wonder to those who +have seen it. It belonged to the late Mrs. Stover, daughter of +Andrew Johnson. The whole family of the ex-President have departed +this world, but his memory is still green in this region, where he +was almost worshiped--so the people say in speaking of him. + +Forlorn as was the hotel at Union, the landlord's daughters were +beginning to draw the lines in rural refinement. One of them had +been at school in Abingdon. Another, a mature young lady of fifteen, +who waited on the table, in the leisure after supper asked the Friend +for a light for her cigarette, which she had deftly rolled. + +"Why do you smoke?" + +"So as I shan't get into the habit of dipping. Do you think dipping +is nice?" + +The traveler was compelled to say that he did not, though he had seen +a good deal of it wherever he had been. + +"All the girls dips round here. But me and my sisters rather smoke +than get in a habit of dipping." + +To the observation that Union seemed to be a dull place: + +"Well, there's gay times here in the winter--dancing. Like to dance? +Well, I should say! Last winter I went over to Blountsville to a +dance in the court-house; there was a trial between Union and +Blountsville for the best dancing. You bet I brought back the cake +and the blue ribbon." + +The country was becoming too sophisticated, and the travelers +hastened to the end of their journey. The next morning Bristol, at +first over a hilly country with magnificent oak-trees,--happily not +girdled, as these stately monarchs were often seen along the roads in +North Carolina,--and then up Beaver Creek, a turbid stream, turning +some mills. When a closed woolen factory was pointed out to the +Professor (who was still traveling for Reform), as the result of the +agitation in Congress, he said, Yes, the effect of agitation was +evident in all the decayed dams and ancient abandoned mills we had +seen in the past month. + +Bristol is mainly one long street, with some good stores, but +generally shabby, and on this hot morning sleepy. One side of the +street is in Tennessee, the other in Virginia. How handy for +fighting this would have been in the war, if Tennessee had gone out +and Virginia stayed in. At the hotel--may a kind Providence wake it +up to its responsibilities--we had the pleasure of reading one of +those facetious handbills which the great railway companies of the +West scatter about, the serious humor of which is so pleasing to our +English friends. This one was issued by the accredited agents of the +Ohio and Mississippi Railway, and dated April 1, 1984. One sentence +will suffice: + +"Allow us to thank our old traveling friends for the many favors in +our line, and if you are going on your bridal trip, or to see your +girl out West, drop in at the general office of the Ohio and +Mississippi Railway and we will fix you up in Queen Anne style. +Passengers for Dakota, Montana, or the Northwest will have an +overcoat and sealskin cap thrown in with all tickets sold on or after +the above date." + +The great republic cannot yet take itself seriously. Let us hope the +humors of it will last another generation. Meditating on this, we +hailed at sundown the spires of Abingdon, and regretted the end of a +journey that seems to have been undertaken for no purpose. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of On Horseback +by Charles Dudley Warner + diff --git a/old/cwohb11.zip b/old/cwohb11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2d1d51 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cwohb11.zip |